A game-changing element brought in by the G&H team in the product design process represents the EIP’s reversionary mode. A strong feature according to the feedback retrieved from various UK MoD trials, this functionality addresses high-risk cases, as explained by Peter Kean, G&H’s Innovation Unit Director of Optics & Photonics:
“In the event that a vehicle loses all its power, you can’t use your displays or your situational awareness cameras that feed into this system. But the driver still needs to be able to see, to exit the threat in the environment. Through this system, a combined glass and electronic periscope, with the flick of a switch, you are just looking out of a glass periscope. So, in that ultra-threat scenario, you just flick the switch and drive.”
Another key feature in the design of Challenger 3 is its immersive and immediate communication capability. As stated by former UK defense secretary Ben Wallace, “what you will see is a far more integrated vehicle”.1 G&H’s approach to the technological development of the EIP is aiming to enhance precisely this quality of the new MBT through its digital connectivity with the Spectre camera system. This electronic feature includes both a day and a thermal imaging camera, plus an overlay of the two. As such, crew members save precious seconds in reaction time when needing to secure a mission.
The focus placed on EIP solutions for armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) has to be translated into battlefield fluency. In this case, the new Challenger 3 periscope underwent a set of customization stages in order to respond seamlessly within REUK’s Trailblazer Driver Vision System. Richard Streeter, REUK’s Managing Director, appreciated the end result: