The combat system design and test criteria for Iguana(tm) armored vehicles

Abstract

Ground vehicle mobility advances for the future combat vehicles fleet will be achieved through smaller and lighter systems with improved weapon stabilization, improved ride and agility, and reduced acoustic/IR signatures. The Iguana(trademark), a tracked vehicle concept based on a recently patented suspension and track design, could deploy to hot spots world-wide on peacekeeping and combat missions which require extra flexibility to adapt to diverse terrain, weather and threat conditions. A sophisticated sensor suite integrated with weapon systems will guarantee battlefield dominance and vehicle survivability can be enhanced with revolutionary composite armor. Hybrid electric drive will mainly enhance survivability, fuel economy, stealth, operational capability and acceleration performance. Power electronics developments will speed up the transformation from conventional gas engines to hybrid armored vehicle drive systems. This thesis presents a combat system integration process for an Iguana(trademark) based armored vehicle. It lays out steps to be taken in conceiving and developing the armored vehicle starting from the Mission Need Statement. Scenarios are used to create a context within which to define realistic operational requirements. Functional flow modeling for the interoperable reconnaissance, forward observer and anti-guerrilla version armored vehicles provides the analytical basis for defining subsystem characteristics. A particularly important operational need is for night vision sensors. The U.S. Army Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate's ELIR92 and ACQUIRE computer programs are used to establish feasible Iguana(trademark) thermal night vision device performance requirements.