|
Rheinmetall Defense Systems will supply 12 heavy armored engineer
vehicles based on the Leopard 2 chassis to the Swiss Army Engineer.
The first "Geniepanzer" designated Kodiak, will be
delivered within two years. Kodiak represents a new generation
of armored engineer vehicles, for which the Swiss Army is the
first customer. The new vehicle was developed by a consortium
established by Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH of Kiel, Germany
and RUAG Land Systems of Thun, Switzerland. According to RDE,
A number of nations have already expressed an interest in this
state-of-the-art system; some have launched procurement projects
already.
|
|  The
Kodiak is equipped with various sets of mission specific engineer
tools to support various missions, such as heavy-duty combat
engineering including obstacle breaching, earthworks, digging,
trenching and debris removal etc, as well as minefield breaching.
To perform its primary mission, the Kodiak is equipped with
a high-performance hinged arm excavator mounted in center position,
as well as a dozer system with innovative cutting and tilt angle
settings and a double-winch system consisting of two 9 ton capstan
winches. When combined and deployed in multiple traction mode,
these provide a pulling force of up to 62 tons. The excavator
bucket can be exchanged for a number of other devices, including
a hydraulic hammer and a universal-gripper, attached to a quick-release
coupling. All these tolls are electro-hydraulically controlled
and can be operated by the driver with two joysticks.
When tasked for minefield breaching, the dozer blade is replaced
by a full-width mine plough. For this role, additionally equipment
is provided, including a signature-duplicator and lane-marking
units. The Kodiak's anti-landmine protection technology features
correspond to those of the latest generation of Leopard 2 MBT.
|
