A fourth country has selected the ASCOD tracked armoured vehicle to meet its requirements. This comes after manufacturer General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) has received a contract from Elbit Systems. The vehicles will be fitted with the latest 105mm large-calibre turret and delivered to an Asian-Pacific customer over a period of three years. According to the website defence-blog.com, the customer is the Philippine Army and the contract is valued US$196M.
With its modular design and open system architecture, the ASCOD can be outfitted easily for multiple roles, including as a Light Tank (LT) or Medium Main Battle Tank (MMBT) and equipped with large-calibre cannons up to 120mm. Three other nations – Austria, Spain and the UK – have selected the ASCOD as their preferred tracked armoured vehicle platform. The vehicles for the fourth customer will be branded with the name SABRAH.
“We are delighted that the first customer outside of Europe selected our ASCOD as their future Light Tank platform,” said Dr. Thomas Kauffmann, Vice President of International Business and Services for GDELS. “It indicates a clear trend in the armoured vehicle segment to medium weight (≤ MLC 50) and multi-role platforms, which provide modern armies with commonality, interoperability, flexibility, as well as advanced military mobility, while significantly reducing logistic complexity and cost of ownership.”
“With this contract, the number of ASCOD vehicles in service or under contract reach 1,000 units, proof of the innovation of the system and its capability to adapt to all customers’ needs. The modular design and open architecture of ASCOD is a great example for this advanced approach,” Kauffmann said.
Jack Richardson
