Zurich - After an evaluation process that lasted several months the Chief of Armament has, in agreement with the Chief of the Armed Forces, made his choice for the NBC reconnaissance vehicle type in favour of Thales Suisse with MOWAG GmbH Kreuzlingen.

This concerns a project in procurement planning which will provide a basis for the future application for the procurement of twelve systems in total. The contract for a pre-series vehicle was signed on December 15th 2006 between armasuisse, the procurement and technology centre of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport DDPS, and Thales.

Thales in Zurich is prime contractor for the project and in addition responsible for the NBC sensor-, analysis- and interpretation solution. Further, Thales ensures the overall functionality of the fully integrated solution within the vehicle. With MOWAG GmbH in Kreuzlingen, another renowned Swiss company, is taking part in the project. MOWAG will build the carrier vehicle Piranha IIIC and integrate the NBC solution.

The NBC reconnaissance vehicle shall enable the specialists their on-site mission in a protected environment in a nuclear (N), biologically (B) or chemically (C) contaminated area in case of threats or catastrophes. It has the ability to sample and analyze test samples from the soil, in the water and in the air, transmit the results, mark contaminated areas, generate prediction maps and thus support the forecast process.

The vehicle shall guarantee towards the crew a mission autonomy of twelve hours and can, thanks to its modern conception, in addition to its military tasks, be used for industry-related incidents or in connection with terrorist threats in advantage to civil authorities.

Thales
16.04.2007