Memorandum from Roy F Williams
THE SWEDISH
SEP PROGRAMME (FAMILY
OF ARMOURED
FIGHTING VEHICLES
(AFV))
BAE Systems Hägglunds have been working
on the concept stage of the future family of AFVs under contract
to the Swedish Defence Forces for around the last three years.
The users requirements for SEP and FRES are very similar and there
has been many exchange visits between the UK MoD and Sweden over
that time. The concept stage which saw the building of two prototypes
by BAE Systems has now been successfully completed and the contract
ready to go to development stage.
A contract for initial SEP development was placed
at BAE Systems Hägglunds AB 17 of July 2006. The aim is to
start the development of the SEP system regarding the basic platforms
(wheeled and tracked) and the roles for APC and LOGISTIC.
It has been stated that a contract must be placed
spring 2008 for the development of additional SEP variants AMBULANCE,
REPAIR, RECOVERY, COMMAND & CONTROL.
The Swedish Government has stated that development
shall be done in co-operation with another nation/other nations
to save on costs. Not necessarily however, in the initial phases.
A bilateral co-operation with UK has priority. If this is not
possible, another partner shall be asked, firstly within EDA and
secondly with other nations in Europe.
There was in 2003 an agreement established on
information exchange between DPA and the Swedish Defence Materiel
Administration regarding FRES and SEP. Work has been carried out
regarding Harmonization of Requirement. It is believed that there
are today very few differences in the Requirements.
The Swedish Government has decided to use BAE
Systems Hägglunds as the prime contractor. Competition will
be established on subsystems level to give value for money. This
is the method of contracting that was carried out in the early
1990s when Sweden developed the CV 90 family. The CV 90 has been
a great success and is today operational in six European nations
including Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Switzerland.
This is now regarded as the most effective AFV available in todays
market.
A contract for series production of the SEP,
including the series preparations, is planned to be in place 15
March 2009. This will allow a first serial delivery 30 November
2011 (APC and LOGISTIC). The second serial delivery is foreseen
to be 31 July 2012 (the rest of the roles).
23 November 2006
| 
