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The Hanwha-led team, bidding for the LAND 400 Phase 3 contract, has completed two key systems integration tests for its Redback IFV.
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Team Redback, led by Hanwha Defense Australia, has confirmed it has successfully tested the Redback infantry fighting vehicle’s (IFV) Iron Fist active protection system (APS) and SPIKE LR2 missiles, supplied by Elbit Land Systems.
The team — which includes Elbit Land Systems, EOS Defence Systems, Bisalloy Steels, ECLIPS Logistics, Soucy Defense, Milspec Manufacturing and CBG Systems — is proposing the Redback as a replacement for the Australian Army’s Vietnam-era M113 armoured personnel carrier (APC), as part of its bid for the Commonwealth government’s LAND 400 Phase 3 program.
Both tests, conducted in Israel, examined Redback’s offensive and defensive protection systems.
The Iron Fist APS is designed to enable the Redback to detect, classify and defeat a range of threats by leveraging integrated radars and electro-optics via two double barrelled launchers mounted low on the turret.
The SPIKE LR2 is an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), fired using a two-round SPIKE launcher mounted on the Redback.
“The Redback turret was designed from the very outset to integrate advanced technologies such as Iron Fist and IronVision and anti-tank guided missiles,” Gal Raviv, managing director of Elbit Land Combat Systems, said.
“The turret is designed to easily integrate these advanced systems as you cannot achieve optimum performance for the vehicle and crew with bolt-on systems.”
Raviv added: “This firing is the last in a series of SPIKE LR2 tests from our turret and concludes the successful integration of the SPIKE LR2.
“I am very pleased to say that the turret and missiles functioned perfectly and scored direct hits on all targets.”
Richard Cho, managing director of Hanwha Defense Australia, said the tests demonstrated the combined capabilities of Team Redback.
“I am enormously proud of Team Redback and the significant progress we have made,” Cho said.
“These two significant demonstrations of successful complex systems integration on the Redback give me absolute confidence in the team and our pathway to complete the remaining validation work.”
Last week, Hanwha’s Redback and Rheinmetall Defence Australia’s Lynx were displayed in Canberra ahead of the next phase of the selection process for the LAND 400 program.
The IFVs will soon undergo a risk-mitigation activity, which is expected to include mobility, reliability and blast testing.
Defence is also expected to assess contracts, supply chains and maintenance associated with the vehicles, ahead of the government’s recommendation on the preferred tender, scheduled for 2022.
[Related: Redback, Lynx put on display ahead of LAND 400 evaluation]
Charbel Kadib
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.
