It took less than 10 months to set up these gigantic military machines. The American army has been testing for almost 3 weeks a new type of armored vehicle capable of destroying drones at its training base at Fort Hood, Texas (United States).
These two prototypes are AMPV-30 delivered by the defense company BAE Systems. The British-American company responded to the public appeal of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, by launching itself without any guarantee of contract into the development of these armored vehicles.
“For the very first time”
The US Army has confirmed, through specialized media, that the two AMPV-30s are prototypes entirely financed by the company for the moment as part of the “Transformation in Contact 2.0” initiative, a program designed to accelerate the evaluation new capabilities by evaluating them directly in the field, without having formally signed a contract.
The AMPV-30 is already the subject of an “internal BAE Systems research and development effort” even “the Army has not yet acquired them,” a spokesperson for the US Army confirmed to The War Zone.
Nicknamed the “drone killer”, this new armored vehicle is based on a version of the multi-purpose AMPV vehicle already used by the American army. It was transformed to be equipped with a 30 mm cannon of Norwegian Kongsberg Defense design and a radar system to detect and destroy small drones.
This system thus makes it possible to neutralize a drone flying at altitude without waiting for it to approach directly the gun. “For the first time ever, horsemen and infantrymen can carry out their primary missions while defending themselves against swarms of drones,” enthused William Sheehy, one of the leaders of BAE Systems. All that remains is to formally sign the contract with the American army.
