Canada's close Combat Vehicle part 2. Nexter and BAE all in, General Dynamics as usual mailing it in.

Nexter VBCI.

Nexter VBCI.

Nexter VBCI.

BAE's CV90.

 

BAE's CV90.

BAE's CV90.

Thanks for the article Jonathan!

Wow.

The Canadian's are gonna try to pick a Close Combat Vehicle again.  Check this out ....

The bids are in for the Close Combat Vehicle (CCV). At least one company, Nexter Systems, has confirmed it has submitted a bid in response to the government’s Request for Proposals.
Nexter will offer the VBCI 25 – a platform currently in service with the French Army in both Afghanistan and Lebanon, according to the company.
“The VBCI is a state of the art platform with an excellent combination of protection, mobility and firepower” Patrick Lier, Nexter’s Vice President, Sales & Business Development, North America, noted in a statement released Tuesday. “Perhaps its most significant feature is its thick aluminum alloy hull which provides unparalleled protection against mines and IEDs.”
The company points out that the vehicle is capable of speeds over 100 km per hour. The VBCI has a one man turret with a 25 mm NATO standard gun, a 7.62 co-axial machine gun and grenade launchers. With a range of 750 km, it can sustain an infantry section on operations for three days, the firm adds. Nexter has already delivered over 400 of a total of 630 vehicles ordered by the French Army.
DND wants to buy 108 of the Close Combat Vehicles. There would be an option for the purchase of up to 30 additional vehicles. The army has argued that the Close Combat Vehicles, which would accompany its Leopard tanks into battle, are a priority for future missions.
BAE officials told Defence Watch during CANSEC 2012 they would bid. General Dynamics Land Systems Canada took an approach that it was reviewing the RFP material provided by government. No word yet from GD about whether their bid went in but industry sources believe that the firm did/will proceed with a bid.
As you know, the CCV program has run into a number of problems. It went off the rails earlier this year and companies vying for the $2 billion program were told that their bids had been rejected and they would have to submit new proposals. It was the second time that candidate vehicles, some of which are in service with allied nations in Afghanistan, had been rejected by the Defence Department.
The Close Combat Vehicle program, announced with great fanfare by the government in the summer of 2009, has already fallen two years behind schedule, according to industry officials.

Wheels.

The French are all in when it comes to wheeled forces...perhaps it has to do with a LACK of experience in Afghanistan where in my opinion wheeled vehicles showed vulnerability to IEDs and lacked off road capability.

I'm sure that's what BAE is trying to figure out.  Will it offer a vehicle that actually meets requirements and will be able to keep up with Leopard MBT's cross country or will it put forward a trendy option...a wheeled option.

General Dynamics has a totally different issue.  It has a WEAK design studio.  It really seems as if they're not even trying anymore.  If I was a betting man it will be a version of the Stryker/LAV III.  They could go rogue and try to push an ASCOD but in reality that is a tired vehicle and the British move to go with them had to be purely based on a cost, not the best vehicle offered.

I'll keep an eye on this and I'll be monitoring Defense Watch.  They're good on Canadian armored programs.