A thread for variants and developments with the Singaporean Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV)
A cynic would say bribes, but Iveco and a not-small chunk of BAE operate out of the US which puts the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in play. And that law is nasty about penalties, billions of dollars are not off the table!I'm curious as to why the Terrex 2 lost the ACV program to Iveco. The complaints I've heard about the Iveco design are about seaworthiness and internal space for Marines. The design had to be useful in sea state 3, the Terrex 2 could survive sea state 4. And the Terrex 2 was praised for the space it had. I haven't seen anything as to why the BAE/Iveco was judged superior.
I suspect it's more expensive than a lot of the competing stuff. For example, the Ultimax SAW is some 20% more than an FN Minimi.Frankly I think a lot of the Singapore kit is exceptional. I'm surprised they haven't had even more export success.
Political pressure is also a thing, and Singapore doesn't tend to apply it - export sales are a good thing, but not a main priority. Things like development programs, university cooperation, these are more important to MINDEF than sales overseas, and frankly there's some major disinterest in overseas sales, especially compared to some exporters. Another factor might also be the, ah, 'black' factor. Singapore develops a lot of systems, and there's a professional interest in not revealing it. An example - the F-5S on display in the RSAF Museum has a frosted cockpit, and I've seen speculation that the HUD developed for it was advanced for the period.A cynic would say bribes, but Iveco and a not-small chunk of BAE operate out of the US which puts the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in play. And that law is nasty about penalties, billions of dollars are not off the table!
I suspect it's more expensive than a lot of the competing stuff. For example, the Ultimax SAW is some 20% more than an FN Minimi.