By ANDREW CHUTER – Singapore’s ST Kinetics, headquartered just below the Equator, is targeting countries on the Arctic Circle for its Bronco all-terrain tracked vehicle. Potential markets include Sweden, the home of rival BvS10 built by BAE Systems.
Bronco All Terrain Tracked Carrier (ST Engineering photo)
The Singaporean executive said that while the Swedes were only looking at what was on the market, ST Kinetics were open to bidding, subject to the requirement.
The Bronco may have been built in the tropical heat of Singapore but Choy reckons the vehicle’s all-terrain capabilities would be well-suited for countries such as Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, which will increasingly need to police the Arctic region as the ice cap melts.
ST Kinetics emphasized its links with the Nordic region at Eurosatory, announcing a sale of 40mm ammunition to the Finnish Army for automatic grenade launchers. This is a repeat order from the Finns, who have been customers since 2000.
Requirements in the Arctic rim for an all-terrain armored vehicle would pitch the Bronco into a head-to-head fight with the smaller-payload BvS10.
Upgraded versions of the vehicles have already clashed in the U.K. and France over the last couple of years. ST Kinetics won with the Warthog in Britain, but lost to the Viking II in France.
The Singaporeans’ suffered a series of problems with the Warthog after it vehicle arrived in the U.K. for testing. The armor had to be increased, requiring changes to the suspension and driveline to compensate for the weight.
Choy said eight or nine hulls have been blown up to test the revised protection requirements. The protection tests have now been completed and final reliability testing is now being undertaken ahead of expected deployment to Afghanistan later this year.
Choy said the upgrade has taken a lot of pain, effort and money to achieve but the work was essential to reciprocate the trust the British had put in ST Kinetics by giving them the order in the first place.
ST Kinetics used Eurosatory to promote a new heavily armed version of the all-terain machine known as the Bronco Fire Support Vehicle.
The concept vehicle was fitted with a remote-control weapon station on the front cabin sporting a 40mm grenade launcher and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, while the rear cabin is armed with the company’s 50 RCWS mounting the .50-cal. CIS 50 gun.
Choy said the company did engineering studies to prove the concept, and is now looking to gauge global interest in a machine that can provide considerable fire support virtually anywhere on the battlefield.
He said one idea was decoupling the rear cabin to use it as a fire support platform with its own electrical power.
