AFV News from Around the Web

Another installment of AFV news from around the web. Click in the headline to go to the full article.

Stars and Stripes:  Americans roll out Ukrainian tanks for Combined Resolve exercise

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — American soldiers on Tuesday used British Army equipment to transport Ukrainian T-64 tanks from here to Hohenfels in preparation for a Ukrainian tank platoon’s participation in Exercise Combined Resolve.  Ukrainian troops recently took part in the Strong Europe Tank challenge, during which they were they first soldiers ever to fire a T-64 tank on base here. Since arriving at the American base, the Ukrainian tankers have had time to learn from the tank crews of allied and partner nations here.

IHS Jane’s – Singapore Army’s next-generation armoured vehicle prototypes make public debut

Combat and recovery vehicle prototypes of the Singapore Army’s next-generation armoured vehicle (NGAV) family have made their public debut during a capability demonstration and exhibition at the Army Open House 2017 event held on 27-29 May.  The yet unnamed combat variant, currently designated the next -generation armoured fighting vehicle (NGAFV), has been under development by the country’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) in partnership with Singapore Technologies (ST) Kinetics – the land systems arm of local defence prime ST Engineering – since 2006.

National Post – Experts dig up Covenanter tank in English vineyard, a rare piece of Canada’s D-Day history

The Covenanter tank was not exactly a star of the Second World War.  German technological advances and a fickle engine rendered the awkwardly named model obsolete months after it first left an English factory, and none of the 1,700 vehicles built ever actually fired a shot in anger.  But for Canadian troops on the eve of a historic battle, the Covenanter proved indispensable. Converted into a training tool, it helped ready this country’s infantry forces for their biggest moment of the war, the D-Day invasion, whose 73rd anniversary is Tuesday.

Business Insider – Watch the NATO tank competition where the US lost to Austria and Germany

For the second year in a row, a US armored brigade competed in the Strong Europe Tank Challenge against a range of European partners — and lost.  Austria, which didn’t participate last year, took gold, while Germany came in second. The US came in third, but given the purpose of the challenge, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.  “This is a competition, but it’s not really about the competition,” Sgt. Maj. David Glenn, 7th Army Training Command’s operations senior noncommissioned officer, said in a US Army statement. “It’s really about training, partnership, esprit de corps, and interoperability.”

IHS Jane’s – Brazil plans to phase out M108 howitzers

The Brazilian Army plans to deactivate its 105 mm M108 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs), the service recently announced.  It reportedly has 72 systems in inventory with the 3rd, 5th, and 22th Self-propelled Field Artillery Groups located at Santa Maria, Curitiba, and Uruguaiana, respectively, according to an artillery Order of Battle document that the army shared with Jane’s .  A deactivation plan will be established by the army’s Logistics Command (COLOG), and the type later progressively replaced by 155 mm systems.

IHS Jane’s – General Dynamics unveils two new LAV support variants

General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) unveiled two new Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) variants at the annual CANSEC conference in Ottawa from 31 May to 1 June. The LAV 6.0 Combat Support Vehicle- Ambulance (CSV-A) and the LAV 6.0 Combat Support Vehicle- Maintenance and Recovery (CSV-MR) are evolutions of the LAV 6.0 baseline vehicle.  Both vehicles were designed towards requirements in Canada’s competitive Armoured Combat Support Vehicle (ACSV) contract. ACSV is a programme, valued at up to CAD1.5 billion (USD1.1 billion), to replace the Canadian Army’s fleet of M113 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and LAV-II Bisons. It will enter an options analysis phase in 2018, with a contract award expected in 2023.

Florida Today – Melbourne may approve tank-driving, car-crushing outdoor attraction

MELBOURNE — Thrill-seeking tourists could soon get to catch a ride on an armored personnel carrier, hop aboard an Abbot FV433 self-propelled artillery and drive the tank-like vehicle along a half-mile wooded trail off of John Rodes Boulevard.  For an additional charge, the diesel-engine behemoth could crush a junk vehicle — all to the consternation of some homeowners in the adjacent Hammock Trace Preserve subdivision.