British Army unveils its new 'Swiss Army knife' armoured vehicle

[Blackleaf]

It looks more like a Transformer, and could be the new sting in the British Army's tail.

The 'Swiss Army Knife' combat vehicle, so dubbed because of its armoury of tools, now comes complete with a telescopic investigation arm, an upgrade on the existing Terrier ordered by defence chiefs.

Aptly named 'Terrier', it has been designed to meet the challenges of warfare on the battlefields of the future.

It can probe for buried explosives and split solid concrete with a rock hammer that stretches more than 26 ft (8m) away from its body.

The mammoth machine can now wade through deep waters and withstand waves of up to six and a half feet (2m).

'Swiss Army knife' armoured vehicle unveiled

BAE Systems unveils its reworked 'Swiss Army knife' armoured vehicle - aptly named the Terrier

By Agency
12 Feb 2016
The Telegraph

It looks more like a Transformer, and could be the new sting in the British Army's tail.

The 'Swiss Army Knife' combat vehicle, so dubbed because of its armoury of tools, now comes complete with a telescopic investigation arm, an upgrade on the existing Terrier ordered by defence chiefs.

Widely regarded as the 'Swiss Army Knife of combat engineering vehicles, the BAE Systems' Terrier

Aptly named 'Terrier', it has been designed to meet the challenges of warfare on the battlefields of the future.

It can probe for buried explosives and split solid concrete with a rock hammer that stretches more than 26 ft (8m) away from its body.

The mammoth machine can now wade through deep waters and withstand waves of up to six and a half feet (2m).

The remote controlled 32 tonne machine was originally launched as part of a £360m project in June 2013 to dig holes, lift objects, drill into the ground and even shatter concrete with troops a safe distance away.

But it has been now been enhanced with sophisticated new technologies and systems by defence engineers at BAE Systems, ensuring it keeps a step ahead of competitors.

One of the upgrades is a ripper that can tear up roads or runways, rendering them useless to the enemy, and an earth augur that drills holes for use in combat engineering.

BAE Systems Land (UK) export sales manager Rory Breen said: "The greater wading depth and surge protection will make Terrier even better suited for use in coastal or low lying areas, where it can play an important role in disaster relief as well as combat situations.

"Along with the new telescopic arm and other attachments,Terrier remains the most technologically advanced and flexible combat engineer vehicle in the world.

"Due to the modular nature of the vehicle, it could also be quickly adapted for a range of other situations, such as clearing paths through jungle or thick foliage."

BAE Systems' Telford plant, home to its combat vehicles business Photo: Getty

The British Army's most advanced engineering vehicle, which is known as Terrier

The armoured digger can reach speeds of almost 50mph and can be controlled remotely

Terrier can reach speeds of 45 mph (70kmh) and already has complete remote control from up to 1km (0.62 miles) away, along with a variety of lifting, grabbing and moving capabilities.

Its front loader system can lift weights of up to five tonnes and can shift 300 tonnes of earth an hour.

In addition, its recently trialled sub-surface mine plough can penetrate to recognised safe depths while travelling at up to 15kmh (9.3 mph), quickly creating a path free of mines and improvised explosive devices.

The 32-ton Terrier can even be operated by remote control from more than half a mile away

The British Army is to get at least 60 Terriers

Terrier was designed to provide the British Army with maximum flexibility from a single vehicle, allowing them to reduce their equipment and logistic footprint.

BAE Systems' engineers continue to develop new modular attachments, meaning that Terrier customers can upgrade their vehicles to meet new requirements without changing platforms.

FACT FILE

The Terrier: reloaded

Top speed: 45 mph

Weight: 32 tonnes

Remote control range: 1 km

Front loader max weight: 5 tonnes

Mine plough top speed: 9 mph



The Terrier tank: BAE Systems unveils 'Swiss Army knife' armoured vehicle - Telegraph

 

[Ron in Regina]

Looks overly complex. A maintenance nightmare. The exposed
hydraulic lines behind the bucket/plow are a weak point. Once
those are blown, and the pumps dump the hydraulic fluid with
the bucket on the ground....that thing will only run in reverse
to drag the bucket depending on the angle of the bucket at
the time. If there's a common hydraulic tank, that takes out
that lifting arm too, at the least, and the steering might also
use hydraulics....so that might be out too.

 

[Blackleaf]

Looks overly complex. A maintenance nightmare. The exposed
hydraulic lines behind the bucket/plow are a weak point. Once
those are blown, and the pumps dump the hydraulic fluid with
the bucket on the ground....that thing will only run in reverse
to drag the bucket depending on the angle of the bucket at
the time. If there's a common hydraulic tank, that takes out
that lifting arm too, at the least, and the steering might also
use hydraulics....so that might be out too.

Yeah, you're right. BAE Systems, of course, have obviously recruited a bunch of incompetents.

 

[Ron in Regina]

No worries. Once the flaws are uncovered, and they're used
up & miled out, I'm sure the Canadian Military will buy them
from your military.....

 

[darkbeaver]

They will have to rust for a decade before Canada buys them. The undercarriage is of 1950s vintage, I can't remember exactly what tanks it was under just now, maybe later I will look for it.

 

[Curious Cdn]

Reminds me of "Bob the Builder's" machinery friends.

Does it have a typical British motor that won't start below 32°F?

 

[MHz]

You must be trying to lose the next ground war or is that a sign to Russia that you nothing to bring to the 'front lines'??

 

[Blackleaf]

No worries. Once the flaws are uncovered, and they're used
up & miled out, I'm sure the Canadian Military will buy them
from your military.....

The French are interested in buying some.

Does it have a typical British motor that won't start below 32°F?

By "typical British motor" do you mean like those fine ones produced by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines, engines which helped win WWII?

 

[Curious Cdn]

The French are interested in buying some.

Your Swiss Army Knife vehicle must come with a cork screw.

 

[Blackleaf]

Your Swiss Army Knife vehicle must come with a cork screw.

A white flag.

 

[Curious Cdn]

By "typical British motor" do you mean like those fine ones produced by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines, engines win helped win WWII?

No, I mean the typical British motor that we all saw back when we bought your exports: Austin, Morris, British Leyland, Rover, Vauxall, ... a mountain of junk, actually.

When I was a really little boy, my father had a couple of Austins. This was in the sixties, mind you when people were already orbiting the Earth but the damned thing had a crank! It was a removable crank and it was the only way to start it on a cold Quebec morning. We unwisely trusted in that British motor to take us on a camping trip in Northwestern Ontario. Well, the crank shaft SNAPPED IN TWO on the TransCanada Highway in a place called Vermilion Bay. A cousin drove a replacement part some hundreds of miles from the closest city, Winnipeg, to get us out of camping in the woods. When we got home, dad sold the Austin and never bought British again. The British could have had the automobile niche now occupied by the Japanese but they couldn't get past making cheap junk. The British automoblie industry was run by incompetents and probably still is.

 

[Blackleaf]

The British automoblie industry was run by incompetents and probably still is.

And yet a lot more British cars have been sold globally than Canadian cars. Most people around the world would struggle to name a Canadian car.

 

[MHz]

Take it camping in the mountains on a long weekend and most of it will have fallen off by the end of the first day. No wonder bombing is the only thing you do these days.

And yet a lot more British cars have been sold globally than Canadian cars. Most people around the world would struggle to name a Canadian car.

America is the designer, we are lucky if we can manufacturer a bumper or two. The pic explains why you keep selling new cars, they rust away within a few years unless you put them in storage.

 

[Ludlow]

You know I do think I remember having a Swiss Army knife when I was a kid. wonder who stole that from me.

 

[MHz]

Perhaps you just lost it or has the world been conspiring against you that long?

 

[Curious Cdn]

And yet a lot more British cars have been sold globally than Canadian cars. Most people around the world would struggle to name a Canadian car.

900,000 Canadian built cars, trucks, carriers and vehicles of all types equipped your entire Armed Forces during WW II after Dunkirk. Then we gave them to you when Canada forgave the UK your huge War debt to us. You can bet that thousands of them still work.

 

[MHz]

Here is what they were fighting with. Gosh but the British must be strong people.

 

[Curious Cdn]

Here is what they were fighting with. Gosh but the British must be strong people.

Sure, man!

 

[Blackleaf]

equipped your entire Armed Forces during WW II after Dunkirk.

That's not true. Britain vastly out-manufactured Canada during WWII. Britain was out-manufacturing almost everybody during World War II. We were still the manufacturing superpower. Britain manufactured planes at a faster rate than Germany, for example, and we manufactured more than enough to cover our losses and were better at doing that than the Germans. The Germans started getting annoyed that no matter how many RAF planes they shot down, new ones just kept appearing.

And I'm fairly sure that when WWIII breaks out fairly soon, Britain will, once more, start churning out all the planes and tanks and ships it needs.

 

[MHz]

Probably lost them at a greater rate also or you wouldn't have needed other Nations to come and save your ***, again in less that 50 years.