Fennek, Zobel and Vickers-DAF LATV

[Voltzz]

Found a few things on both the German and Dutch predecessor programs to the joint KMW-DAF Fennek scout vehicle:
In Germany there were competitive trials between the French VBL offered by MaK in cooperation with Panhard and the Zobel developed by GST. Interestingly both MaK and GST at that time had the same parent company in Krupp.
But the final design of the Fennek seems to have its origin on the Dutch side: In the Vickers DAF LATV project, on which i can find almost no information. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Voltzz]

Article (in german) from 1989 on the Zobel. Its focus is especially on the very fast development and its modular layout which would also allow 6x6 and 8x8 variants.

 

[Voltzz]

From an IDR article on light armored vehicles (1993)
EDIT: i found a newer color image of the same model

 

[Voltzz]

Article (in German) on the development of the Fennek. Apparently there were plans for a module to make it amphibious. AFAIK this is no longer an option. I would guess because of increasing protection requirements.

Also an ad from DAF and Wegmann for the Fennek (at this point called Spähwagen 4x4 or LGS 'Leichter Gepanzerte Spähwagen') and the same image again but in color.

 

[Voltzz]

Fennek 2:
Also called GP-F2T (generic platform-future fennek technology) it was a KMW project to develop the Fennek platform into a modular family of vehicles. Its main feature was redundant propulsion, being fitted with two diesel engines in the front and back. This was supposed to improve mine protection by elimination the driveshaft below the passenger compartment, allow residual mobility after a mine/IED hit and make it possible to realize the passenger compartment as a mission module. It is unclear to me how much this vehicle still had in common with the Fennek given the completely new engine layout.
More info and some good pictures of the layout here

 

[MihoshiK]

I know a civilian contractor who regularly drives the Fennek, and apparently the brakes are a little on the anemic side, which means that if you're driving on the open road it's advisable to use engine braking where possible.

 

[Voltzz]

Found a dutch article here that covers a project to electrify the Fennek propulsion (E-Fennek) and also mentions an earlier German project with the same aim (VT-E Versuchsträger Elektrisch). VT-E used wheel-hub motors while the E-Fennek kept the mechanical transmission.

Prior to the E-Fennek project, a great deal of knowledge has already been gained about hybridization and electrification of weapon systems, by exchanging knowledge with our neighbor countries, research with knowledge institutes and companies, but also internal Defense research and development of calculation models. our neighboring country in the east already made an attempt 15 years ago to hybridize the Fennek. On paper, all components seemed to fit in the current Fennek, unfortunately
the opposite was proven during the course of the project and the supplier of the Fennek even produced a special hull, because otherwise hybridization was not possible.
The VT-E project did provide input to the E-Fennek project, because of this knowledge exchange it has become clear that in-wheel electric motors (part of the initial VT-E design) are impossible to place in the current Fennek configuration. The conclusion that integration of in-wheel motors would be very difficult is also apparent from the national study DEVE (Demonstrator Electric Vehicle). DEVE was also carried out more than 15 years ago by TNO and DAF Special Products, among others, whoconducted research into the most suitable hybrid drive concept at the time.
Naturally, a great deal of development has taken place in the past 15 years, for example the energy density of batteries has increased considerably. However, this does not apply to the power density of the electric motors, which has only increased slightly.
For this reason, together with the conclusions in previous projects, it was immediately decided to use the existing transmissions in the Fennek. After all, the aim is also to carry out as few modifications as possible for the electrification of the Fennek, in order to keep the complexity low and to keep the costs in balance with the objective of the project.

Edit: relevant KMW patent

 

[timmymagic]

But the final design of the Fennek seems to have its origin on the Dutch side: In the Vickers DAF LATV project, on which i can find almost no information. Any help would be appreciated.

Had no idea about Vickers involvement. Were Vickers there as a consultant? Designer?

 

[Voltzz]

But the final design of the Fennek seems to have its origin on the Dutch side: In the Vickers DAF LATV project, on which i can find almost no information. Any help would be appreciated.

Had no idea about Vickers involvement. Were Vickers there as a consultant? Designer?

The picture in the original post is sadly the only thing i have found on the project, and i dont even know the original source.

 

[Voltzz]

In the German-Dutch Fennek program, the winning design by a consortium of Daf and Wegmann competed with one by Krauss-Maffei and Daimler-Benz. I finally found a picture of that design, but information on it is still scarce.
It looks somewhat similar to the GST Zobel but that could also just be a coincidence because they share a very conventional layout.
EDIT: Found a photo of K1 in a Krauss-Maffei ad

 

[Voltzz]

Euromissile ATM turret for Fennek with two HOT missiles and an elevating sensor mast
Found in a Euromissile ad

 

[Voltzz]

In the German-Dutch Fennek program, the winning design by a consortium of Daf and Wegmann competed with one by Krauss-Maffei and Daimler-Benz.

This UNSOURCED article on the Zobel in topwar.ru also list all the bids out of which the Daf (Fennek) and Krauss-Maffei (K1) bids were chose for the final competition:

• DAF SP / Wegmann: Fennek
• Krauss-Maffei / Daimler-Benz: K1 and K2 (K2 was based on Unimog)
• Industriewerke Saar: I would guess that they offered the Zobel in cooperation with GST
• MaK / Panhard: Probably the improved VBL that they developed to compete with Zobel, although i have found a MaK ad showing a 4x4 that does not look like the VBL
• Thyssen-Henschel: I cant find any information on this bid.

EDIT: Does anyone have access to Défense et Sécurité Internationale No. 125? It has an article that at least mentions K1 and K2 and it would be nice to know what sources it uses.

 

[Nik]

FWIW, I like the Murphy-thwarting thinking behind the 'double-ended' layout.

Down-side is lack of a rear hatch / loading apace...

 

[Scott Kenny]

FWIW, I like the Murphy-thwarting thinking behind the 'double-ended' layout.

Down-side is lack of a rear hatch / loading apace...

You mean "over-complicating"