Delivering Vehicles and Mission Systems for the Modern Battlefield

Adaptability in the modern environment

Both AFVs and PMVs must be modular, adaptable, and reduce the cognitive burden of the operator, while keeping personnel safe and protected from threats.

A diverse range of demands are placed upon today’s vehicles; consequently, their designs vary greatly but the fundamentals remain the same: they must get you where you need to go, safely and at speed, while being equipped to face any adversary.

From main battle tanks to patrol vehicles, they all need the capability to conduct surveillance activities, detect potential threats, relay data throughout the vehicle and along the command chain and defend itself when necessary.  

As fleets reach their out of service date, it is essential that armies assess their requirements in order to forge an enhanced capability. Each AFV and PMV should be equipped with 5 key features: commonality, modularity, mobility, survivability, lethality. These features will ensure that fleets are able to withstand the dynamic and turbulent nature of the modern battlefield.

Your partner of choice

Thales in the UK is world leading in the AFV and PMV domain which aids the ability to provide systems capability to vehicle programmes.

Every UK Main Battle Tank over the past 75 years has been fitted with sights designed or built by Thales. Thales in the UK has designed and built the electronic vehicle architecture system and vehicle sights for more than 300 of the UK MOD’s Foxhound vehicles, tested proven in Afghanistan. With this strong heritage in vehicles, systems and open architectures, Thales aims to enable armed forces to fight harder, smarter and longer than the opposition.
Thales is a supplier of choice for both new build and retrofit vehicle programmes to give users better local situational awareness and the fighting advantage in military operations. With fleet operation centres in the UK, vehicles can be assessed and adjusted to suit user requirements at speed.

For a medium weight capability, the Bushmaster is combat proven and in service with 9 nations, including Ukraine. With a 4 tonne payload, Bushmaster is modular and reconfigurable; it can be designed to fit the customer’s needs and has been constructed into formats such as: armoured personnel carrier, command and control platform, route clearance and battlefield ambulance.

Accelerating the integration of technology at the edge is becoming the new standard. There is a growing need for the rapid acquisition of superior military capabilities that can deliver a tangible difference on the battlefield. Solutions should, where possible, embrace AI and autonomy in order to provide increased lethality and efficiencies. By having modular and configurable vehicles in a fleet, this will enhance the ability to do just that.

Faster, smarter, safer

Getting forces to the front line- fast, with vehicles that are fit for purpose and readily deployable will significantly enhance the way in which we protect and defend our nations, assets and critical infrastructure. 

Accelerating the integration of technology at the edge is becoming the new standard. There is a growing need for the rapid acquisition of superior military capabilities that can deliver a tangible difference on the battlefield. Solutions should, where possible, embrace AI and autonomy in order to provide increased lethality and efficiencies. By having modular and configurable vehicles in a fleet, this will enhance the ability to do just that.

Modularity means swappable systems, faster reconfiguration times and more agile fleets in pursuit of front-line readiness and battlefield superiority. Modular by design can mean both the ability to transfer mission systems easily and effectively on the battlefield and an inherent ability to be assembled quickly, with a minimum of tooling.

Delivering Vehicle Systems for an Operational Edge

Whether in support of military operations in a combat environment or humanitarian and peacekeeping missions, the capabilities of a deployed AFV or PMV are crucial to mission success and survivability.

As multi-domain operations grow in importance and complexity, modern systems, sensors, and integrated AI capabilities are altering the very nature of how wars are fought. Soldiers on the ground face increasingly nuanced threats. The sheer volume of data available in modern warfare means that the race is no longer just about detection – it’s about the ability to rapidly process that data, analyse it, and act on it faster than the enemy. To shorten friendly OODA loops while overwhelming and disrupting an adversary’s.

We can give soldiers this critical edge through advanced optronics and sophisticated sighting systems. We can maintain it by designing, developing, and delivering such capabilities to the frontline in time. We can guarantee it – in any environment, from any platform – by being guided by a central tenet: systems that work well in isolation can achieve even greater results when combined.

Thales in the UK has proven expertise across various vehicle types in the systems that deliver these capabilities:

• Vehicle  Optronics
• Environmental Sensors
• Vehicle Systems Integration
• Laser Warning Systems
• Electronic Vehicle Architecture
  Situational Awareness
• Remote Weapons Stations