The German Wiesel AWC replacement project, the airborne weapon carrier (GSD LuWa)

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Translated form German.

On June 22nd, IABG, commissioned by the BAAINBw as general contractor, presented the complete system demonstrator for an airborne weapon carrier (GSD LuWa) after a project duration of 14 months.

Together with the project partners ACS, FFG and Valhalla Turrets, the vehicle, weapon system and interior were presented to a ministerial and official specialist audience at ACS in Derching near Augsburg.
With the GSD LuWa, the subsystems that are considered to be particularly risky are to be examined and evaluated by mid-2022.

A digital twin of the GSD LuWa accompanies the investigation and can be used for the further development process. For the possible successor to the Wiesel 1 MK, technical specifications are being developed that could be incorporated into the performance description for future development.
Click to expand...
https://soldat-und-technik.de/2021/...er-luwa-gesamtsystemdemonstrator-vorgestellt/ CGI of the demonstrator.

FutCDVt.jpg

cLDjyW2.jpg
 
Interesting! The twin-tracks are different. I do wonder about the strips at the side - the two under that small side viewport are clearly tapped to receive something, but the positioning is odd - too central for add-on armour and anything bulky will cut down the field of view from the port. The bigger group of strips to the rear are so flat to the surface they almost look velcro-like.

There's a couple of interesting articles linked off the one in the OP, one about the Jaegers (German light infantry units), plus one gebirgsjaeger battalion, adopting the Boxer in IFV configuration as a Wiesel replacement in their heavy companies (which makes sense given they've lost their airmobile role), and the other about a Chinese Wiesel look-alike.

https://soldat-und-technik.de/2020/...27-schwere-waffentraeger-ersetzen-die-wiesel/
https://soldat-und-technik.de/2020/...ieter-zeigt-neues-gepanzertes-kettenfahrzeug/
 
The pic makes it clear the "strips" at the side I was puzzled by are actually cooling louvres.
 
Grey Havoc said:
The tracks seem rather narrow, or am I imagining things?
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The whole thing is going to be lightweight, so they probably don't need wide tracks to give low ground-pressure, and the wider the tracks the narrower the hull has to be to fit CH-47 or CH-53
 
Other than tracks, the general outline looks a bit like late-war Japanese light tanks.
Natural form for a very light tank, I guess?
 
Ainen said:
Other than tracks, the general outline looks a bit like late-war Japanese light tanks.
Natural form for a very light tank, I guess?
Click to expand...
Just a coincidence I would think, the size is dictated by CH53. Armour is very light on this, hence the use of glass, as vision is more useful, and the glass presumably matches the thin armour in terms of performance.

It is a weapons carrier, not a tank after all.
 
DWG said:
Grey Havoc said:
The tracks seem rather narrow, or am I imagining things?
Click to expand...

The whole thing is going to be lightweight, so they probably don't need wide tracks to give low ground-pressure, and the wider the tracks the narrower the hull has to be to fit CH-47 or CH-53
Click to expand...

Wiesel has really skinny tracks as well.

Ozelot.jpg
 
pedrospe said:
muttbutt said:
To answer some of the questions, the 4 track layout is to improve survivability against mine strikes etc, lose a track and can keep going, each track is individually powered by an electic motor.
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Pretty cool, small but deadly:)
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Do you think they would do a civilian version...? Look cool on the M25, no one would cut you up..
 
yasotay said:
Impressive! Does it fit in a CH-47?
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The German Army flies Sikorsky CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters derived from US Marine Corps variants. Sikorsky has partnered with Rheinmetal to bid on the Bundeswehr's competition that may lead to further CH-53K Stallion sales to Germany.
Israel has already signed contracts to replace their older CH-53 with CH-53K King Stallions.
 
riggerrob said:
yasotay said:
Impressive! Does it fit in a CH-47?
Click to expand...
The German Army flies Sikorsky CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters derived from US Marine Corps variants. Sikorsky has partnered with Rheinmetal to bid on the Bundeswehr's competition that may lead to further CH-53K Stallion sales to Germany.
Israel has already signed contracts to replace their older CH-53 with CH-53K King Stallions.
Click to expand...

Germany just ordered CH-47Fs to replace the CH-53Ds.
 
yasotay said:
Impressive! Does it fit in a CH-47?
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Yes but . . .

CH-47 cargo area is 2.29m wide and the Luftbeweglichen Waffenträger (LuWa) is about 2m wide . . . so it fits but only with about .15m (< 6 inches) on either side, so:
  1. Loading it would be painstaking because not only is there very limited clearance on the sides, but also because you have to reverse it into the helicopter, since that's the only way to offload quickly at the landing zone.

  2. Depending on ceiling clearance, it may be necessary to load it with the crew inside and then keep them inside for the duration of the flight. It's do-able but means that the crew is probably trapped if there's a crash landing.
So it's possible: the US Army has internally loaded HMMWV, which are marginally wider than the 2m I've seen quoted for the LuWa, but the extra width of the CH-53 may make a substantial difference in the practicality of doing so.
 
Basil said:
Interesting that they do not use band tracks which really seem to offer advantages over conventional steel tracks especially for lighter vehicles.
https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/__crt
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The metal track may just be for the prototypes, something more or less off the shelf for testing? That rendering up top shows something that looks a bit more like a rubber band track, though it might just be a CGI simplification.

One weird logistical issue might crop up. The LuWa has two different lengths of track on the two separate track units, which would mean needing to stock two different lengths of band for replacements. I know Diehl has worked on segmented rubber track instead (mentioned in your link) and that might work out for this design -- 3 segments up front, 2 on the back, or whatever the actual proportions work out to be.
 
TomS said:
Basil said:
Interesting that they do not use band tracks which really seem to offer advantages over conventional steel tracks especially for lighter vehicles.
https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/__crt
Click to expand...

I know Diehl has worked on segmented rubber track instead (mentioned in your link) and that might work out for this design -- 3 segments up front, 2 on the back, or whatever the actual proportions work out to be.
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Diehl has spun off this business unit which now operates under the name DST (seems to be under the roof of KMW now).

https://www.defence-st.com/
 
kqcke for you said:
LuWa is quite over budget and seems to be done...
https://www.hartpunkt.de/quo-vadis-...ftbeweglicher-waffentraeger-wird-abgebrochen/
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It makes sense. I mean 2 soldiers with equipment, the gun and 200 shoots (we also assume the munition handling system) are already ~1t. The demonstrator also had an diesel electric engine layout (atleast heavier than wiesels set up while also vastly more expensive compared to just an Diesel engine). I mean the vehicle alone was supposed to be heavier and 20 km/h faster than wiesel. The maximum weight for combat was around 4.5t so we only got 3.5t for the engine, chassy, track, electronics, optics, protection and seats
 

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