08:49 GMT, October 8, 2008 Washington | Europe's leading manufacturer of highly protected wheeled and tracked vehicles, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), and the United States prime technology developer, L-3 Communications Corporation, announced today a teaming on the world's first scalable armored vehicle platform F2US. The vehicle is being displayed at the exhibition of the Association of the US Army (AUSA) in Washington, D.C.

In view of the increasingly rapid changes in military environments, it is the intent of both partners to jointly develop and market a US version (F2US) of KMW's new F2 vehicle family specifically to meet the challenging requirements of the US forces for a future tactical armored vehicle.

A scalable vehicle architecture and system design of the F2US allows production of a family of variants in weight classes from 10 to 24 tons. The basic F2 vehicle powered by two independent engines was developed by KMW and will be equipped in the US version with high technology subsystems from L-3 Communications.

"This cooperation between L-3 Communications and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann ideally unites the core competencies of both system houses," says Frank Haun, CEO and President of KMW. "On the basis of the F2 platform, together with the systems from L-3 Communications, we are in a leading position to meet the future needs for new vehicles on the US market."

"We are looking forward to working with KMW to develop this new technology for the Army," said Charles J. Schafer, president of L-3's Products Group.

F2US: A family of vehicles for the most varied needs
The F2US vehicle family is scalable in size and can easily be configured to meet different mission requirements due to its modular design. Two independent drive trains for the front and rear axles permit an undivided compartment space with greater versatility.

A new dimension in modularity
The F2US family of vehicles offers the same capabilities in all versions, because the main components and subsystems are identical for the 4x4 patrol vehicle version with a crew of 3, as well as the 6x6 vehicle version with space for up to 11 crew members. This permits simple swapping of components, and reduces the logistic footprint for the entire family of vehicles to a minimum. In addition, the use of commercial off-the-shelf components guarantees fast availability of the components all around the globe.

Highest survivability
The F2US vehicle is equipped with the latest proven protection technology to withstand modern ballistic, mine and IED threats. In addition, the F2 family has a very low silhouette as well as an extraordinarily low infrared and radar signature.

Greatest mobility
The propulsion is achieved at more than 20 kW per tonne of vehicle weight. A mobility concept derived from the proven, reliable and unique mobility of KMW's FENNEK scout car permits the F2US to negotiate gradients of 60 percent and side slopes of up to 30 percent without difficulty at a range of over 1000 kilometers. The vehicles are air-transportable, so they can be moved quickly and easily to distant deployment areas.