Eurosatory 2018 : KMW unveiled Amphibious Protected Vehicle Tracked.

Undoubtedly, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann’s concept demonstrator of tracked amphibious vehicle drew a strong attention from the visitors, namely because this amphibious APC has been designed to drive in one way and navigate the other one, each side having been designed to best operate in its environment – land or water.

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann’s concept demonstrator of Amphibious Protected Vehicle Tracked (APVT) (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Concerning the sea/lake/riverine operation: the water jet and shape are optimized for high maneuverability and mobility on water. The vehicle benefits from a high protection (MLC 30) against mines and ballistic projectiles.

For land operations, the innovative drive concept ensures high cross-country mobility, noise reduction and comfort increase by hydropneumatics decoupled running gear on segmented Defense Service Tracks (DST) composite rubber tracks (metallic tracks with rubber shoes belong to the past, thanks to the progress made in rubber track technology, a source of comfort, low-noise, longevity, higher speed, and lower fuel consumption). The APVT naturally benefits from a full NBC protection.

Weighing less than 30 tons including a maximum payload of 5 tons, the vehicle has a crew of two and can carry 8 soldiers. The 816-hp MTU diesel engine coupled to an ZF automatic transmission enables the APVT to reach up to 70 km/h on land and 13 km/h on water. The autonomy/range turns around 550 km on hard surface, or 54 km on water. The road wheels are adapted from the Puma infantry fighting vehicle.