ST Engineering Land Systems unveils unmanned NGAFV variant

The Land Systems division of Singapore defence prime ST Engineering has revealed an unmanned ground combat vehicle development based on its 29-tonne tracked Next-Generation Armoured Fighting Vehicle (NGAFV) platform.

The prototype vehicle was unveiled in a July video documenting Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen’s visit to ST Engineering Land Systems’ facility in western Singapore, which featured the unmanned NGAFV manoeuvring with an armed 4×4 unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) and quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

A screen capture of the unmanned NGAFV performing manoeuvres and a teaming assault on a mock target during a company demonstration for Singapore’s defence minister. (MINDEF)

Several visual distinctions between the baseline manned NGAFV– which was earlier commissioned into service on 11 June as the Hunter AFV following a 10-year development programme by the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), ST Engineering, and the Singapore Army – and the unmanned platform can be clearly seen in the video, including a revised exhaust placement to the rear of the hull as opposed to the front, a GPS/GNSS antenna and positioning and orientation sensor package behind the turret, as well as a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor on either side of the glacis plate. It is also equipped with a comparable suite of cameras around its hull, which originally supported closed-hatch operations but is now exploited to enable machine vision.

The unmanned NGAFV is also seen with the ST Engineering Land Systems Adder M30 remote weapon station (RWS) that has been employed aboard earlier examples of the manned vehicle, although the RWS has since been replaced by the anti-tank guided missile (ATGM)-capable Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Samson 30 Integrated RWS for the in-service Hunter AFV variant.