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Hybrid patrol vehicle called 'safest of its kind'

If blown to bits, modular construction allows two or more of these patrol vehicles to be recombined in the field for drivable unit.

Mark Rutherford
Mark Rutherford
The military establishment's ever increasing reliance on technology and whiz-bang gadgetry impacts us as consumers, investors, taxpayers and ultimately as the defended. Our mission here is to bring some of these products and concepts to your attention based on carefully selected criteria such as importance to national security, originality, collateral damage to the treasury and adaptability to yard maintenance-but not necessarily in that order. E-mail him at markr@milapp.com. Disclosure.
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Rheinmetall

Check out the schnoz on this one. Düsseldorf based Rheinmetall advertises its Gefas (Geschütztes Fahrzeugsystem) as the "safest, most future-proof system of its kind anywhere."

The conceptual model shown here was configured for convoy protection. Some options include a high-powered, electromagnetic, counter-IED system, an automated weapons station controlled from safely inside the vehicle, electro-optical sensor systems with downstream image processing for detecting and tracking moving targets, a 12-meter tactical radar, laser-optical sensors for detecting enemy optics, and an "instantaneously activated" smokescreen.

Rheinmetall

Gefas replaces standard steering and braking with a hybrid-electric Renk "drive by wire" system. Each Timoney double-wishbone axle has its own electric drive (comes in 4x4 to 8x8) which--along with the all-wheel-steering and run-flat, auto-inflating tires--gives you a better chance of gettin' in or out of a fracas. Up to six passengers ride in a suspended safety cell attached to the roof, protecting them from landmines and booby traps.

But what really distinguishes the Gefas is its modular, building-block assembly. The modules, composed of axles, power pack, and a main building block, are held together by connectors that can break at predetermined points when damaged in battle. This allows the surviving modules to be reconnected to form a another completely viable vehicle, according to Rheinmetall.