Hawkei: Don’t Get in the Way of this Seven Ton 4 by 4

Just as Australians have learned to respect their native Hawkei death adder, one of the most venomous and fast-striking snakes in the world, adversaries facing Thales’ Hawkei military vehicle on the battlefield are confronted with an agile and powerful threat of a quick strike with deadly force.

The Hawkei makes possible high-speed responses on the battlefield at the decisive moment, thanks to its digitized vehicle electronics architecture linking troops with other key elements of today’s Collaborative Combat. A highly protected four-wheel-drive vehicle about the same size as a large family car, the Hawkei weighs 7 tons and offers an extremely robust construction and add-on ballistic protection.

A Hawkei can carry up to five fully equipped soldiers, four of them are able to interface with a secure computer that is connected to a central vehicle integrated server. This in turn is connected to several radios that allow the vehicle and the soldiers in it to connect with the army’s secure battle management system, which can also access other communication networks.

Today Hawkei is completely digitalized in order to work in the operational context of Collaborative Combat, that means we are able to provide the armed forces the connectivity and the systems they need. Scorpion can be one of the possible options. Equipped with the most advanced sensors (acousticlasers, observation), the vehicle can detect threats with greater accuracy and, most importantly, share this information with others.

Hawkei, becomes part of an unified combat machine composed of vehicles, soldiers & sensors, sharing any critical combat information from logistics to intelligence regarding hostile forces.

So in the event of an attack, protection can come from other units better positioned to respond. It’s a shift from every-man-for-himself to group protection.

Highly effective across a diverse range of missions including troop movement, command and control, electronic warfare, liaison, surveillance and reconnaissance, “Hawkei brings a new level of digital synergy to the modern battlefield to empower commanders and soldiers like never before.

Paul Harris, Product Line Director, Protected Vehicles at Thales.