The Hunter Armoured Fighting Vehicle (or Hunter AFV in short) is a tracked

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured car ...

jointly developed by

ST Engineering Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, doing business as ST Engineering, is a Singaporean multinational technology and engineering group in the aerospace, smart city as well as defence and public security sectors. Headquartered in Singapore, ...

, Defence Science and Technology Agency, and the

Singapore Army The Singapore Army is the land service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The largest of the four branches of the SAF, the Singapore Army traces its origins to the 1st Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment (1 SIR), which was formed i ...

. Intended to replace the Singapore Army's aging Ultra M113

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

s, it was commissioned in 2019. It is the Singapore Army's and the world's first fully digitalised platform, and is designed to provide armoured forces with enhanced capabilities to operate more effectively and efficiently in various phases of military operations. It was formerly known as ST Kinetics Next Generation Armoured Fighting Vehicle (NGAFV).

History

Development of the Hunter started in 2006 as a project of the Singaporean Ministry of Defence (MINDEF)'s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA). In March 2017, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) announced that its land systems arm, Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics), had been awarded a contract by MINDEF for the production and supply of the Next Generation Armoured Fighting Vehicle (NGAFV). The NGAFV would replace the Ultra M113 AFV as a key component of the Singapore Armed Forces’ mechanized forces which has been in service with the Singapore Army since the early 70s. Delivery of the Hunter began in 2019. The vehicle would be delivered in troop carrier, command and recovery variants. The prototype model was exhibited at the Singapore Airshow in 2018. In June 2019, the Hunter AFV was commissioned for the

, with the 42nd Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment designated as the inaugural armour battle group operating the new platform. The first armour battle group operating the platform was announced operationally ready by March 2022. In September 2022, the Singapore Army successfully concluded the inaugural overseas live-firing for the Hunter AFV in

Oberlausitz Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. During which, the operational live-firing of the vehicle’s SPIKE-LR2 anti-tank guided missile was also successfully conducted.

Variants

* Armoured Fighting Vehicle (30mm and 2 SPIKE-LR2 ATGM) * Command Vehicle * Armoured Recovery Vehicle (Hunter ARV) * Engineer Vehicle (Hunter AEV) * Armoured Vehicle Launched Bridge (Hunter AVLB) * Cockerill 3105 turret with 105mm gun (For Export)

Design

The vehicle has a tracked chassis and is crewed by a commander, a driver, and a gunner. The vehicle is equipped with an integrated combat cockpit, which allows the commander and gunner to use a common set of controls to operate the Hunter, and a

drive by wire Drive by wire, DbW, by-wire, steer-by-wire, fly-by-wire or x-by-wire technology in the automotive or aviation industry is the use of electrical or electro-mechanical systems for performing vehicle functions traditionally achieved by mechanical link ...

capability, which allows the vehicle commander to take over driving functions from the driver. The commander and gunners also have independent sights. The Hunter has an MTU 8V-199 TE20 720hp (530kW) turbocharged diesel engine, & an HMX3000 Hydro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission. It has InArm Hydro-pneumatic suspension provided by Horstman of the UK, now a subsidiary of Renk. The AFV mounts an all-round surveillance system with a 360-degree field of vision, enabling closed-hatch operations, as well as a

laser warning system A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

. The Hunter AFV is equipped with the Army Tactical Engagement and Information System (ARTEMIS), a command and control system that allows the crew to operate the vehicle in a fully digitised environment and enabling the wireless exchange of information between vehicles and formations. This is also integrated with the

remote controlled weapon station A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), or remote weapon station (RWS), also known as a remote weapon system (RWS), is a remotely operated weaponized system often equipped with fire-control system for light and medium-caliber weapons which ca ...

to enable sharing of target information. It is also equipped with a Health and Utilisation Monitoring System (HUMS) to monitor the vehicle's health and allow

predictive maintenance Predictive maintenance techniques are designed to help determine the condition of in-service equipment in order to estimate when maintenance should be performed. This approach promises cost savings over routine or time-based preventive maintenanc ...

Hunter AFV of the Singapore Army Sep 2022

The Hunter AFV has a remotely controlled Samson Mk II turret from Rafael armed with a

30 mm 30 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30×113mmB and 30×173mm (STANAG 4624), Soviet 30×155mmB, 30×165mm, and 30×210mmB, Yugoslav 30×192mm, Anglo-Swiss 30×170mm, and ...

Mk44 Bushmaster II cannon, with a magazine for 200 30x173mm rounds, two SPIKE

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

s, a

7.62 mm The 7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the imperial unit and customary unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for ...

coaxial machine gun A weapon mount is an assembly or mechanism used to hold a weapon (typically a gun) onto a platform in order for it to function at maximum capacity. Weapon mounts can be broken down into two categories: static mounts and non-static mounts. Stat ...

, and eight 76 mm

smoke grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mos ...

s. It has a maximum range of 500 km and speed of 70 km/h.

Operators

; *

Gallery

File:Hunter AFV of the Singapore Army.jpg, Hunter AFV of the Singapore Army at Singapore's National Day Parade rehearsal 2019 File:Hunter AFV of the Singapore Army -rear view.jpg, Rear view of production Hunter AFV at Singapore's National Day Parade 2019 rehearsal.

References

{{Singapore-designed weapons 2019 establishments in Singapore Armoured fighting vehicles of the post–Cold War period Armoured fighting vehicles of Singapore