GSDF Maneuver Combat Vehicle (formerly known as the Mobile Combat Vehicle)

[IMAGE CREDIT: MoD (Japan)/TRDI]​

Japan requests development funds for Mobile Combat Vehicle

By Shinichi Kiyotani

1/16/2008

Japan's Ground Self Defence Force (GSDF) has requested funding for the development of a Mobile Combat Vehicle (MCV, or Kido-Sentou-Sya) in a budgetary request for the 2008 financial year.

The funding request for the new 8 x 8 armoured vehicle was approved by the Japanese Cabinet on 24 December 2007 as part of the 2008 budget. This, however, still needs to be approved by the Diet - which rejected funding for the MCV a year earlier. A vote on the budget is set for March 2008, two months later than usual due to the appointment of a new prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, in September 2007.

Most armies would describe the MCV - a purely Japanese designation - as a mobile gun system (MGS). It will be armed with a 105 mm low-recoil gun and will fire the same ammunition as the current Type 74 main battle tank (MBT).

The total development cost for the MCV is estimated at JPY17.3 billion (USD169 million), with the project planned to end in 2015. The GSDF has asked for an initial JPY2.6 billion for the project in 2008, intended to cover costs of the chassis and turret/weapon system.

The MCV will be developed by the Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI), with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) acting as the prime industrial contractor.

The MCV will have a maximum combat weight of under 26 tonnes, which will enable it to be transported in the CX transport aircraft that TRDI is currently developing for the Japanese Air Self Defence Force.

The MCV will have a high level of strategic mobility by air and land when compared to the currently deployed Type 74 MBT and Type 89 mechanised infantry combat vehicle (MICV), which lacks strategic mobility.

IHS Jane's

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Development of a Mobile Combat Vehicle

Firepower (offensive power), mobility, and defensive power are considered to be among the essentials of ground combat. To make a comparison with baseball, where players who can hit the ball and run are extremely useful, when it comes to military equipment, a tank has a well-balanced existence much like that of a cleanup hitter.
On the other hand, in keeping with the security environment of recent years, in order to respond to attacks by guerrillas and special forces and to defend Japan’s offshore islands, in addition to calling on its cleanup hitters that possess a high-level balance, the SDF needs to have access to functions resembling those of a lead-off hitter, so that it can respond immediately with a certain degree of firepower and perform with speed and agility. This is where the concept of the Mobile Combat Vehicle (MCV) comes in. By making use of the MCV’s high road mobility and air transportability, which allows it to effectively utilize ordinary roads and transport aircraft, the SDF can mount an agile response at the outset of an emergency, while MCVs and tanks can also be used together according to the situation. Moreover, by drawing on its high-level development capabilities , the MCV will be able respond to situations that are expected to expand or grow more complex, or that involve a wide variation of ground operations.
Research and development of the MCV is currently proceeding with the aim of bringing the vehicle into service in FY1016, when it is expected to play an important role in the building of “dynamic defense capabilities”, which is a major pillar of the new NDPG.

Ministry of Defense (2011) Defense of Japan (Annual White Paper) - Part II

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Sea Skimmer said:

I like how it says most armies would call it a 'mobile gun system' when in fact the US Army is the only one to formally designate anything with that name, and this after more then half a century of people fielding heavily gunned armored cars.

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