Light Tactical Vehicle Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army

The Philippine Army has embarked on the acquisition of new light armored tactical vehicles which would replace armored personnel carriers (APC) in security duties.

The vehicles are to be procured under the Light Tactical Vehicle Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army, which is a Horizon 2 phase priority project under the Revised AFP Modernization Program.

These vehicles are smaller and lighter than the Philippine Army's existing wheeled APCs like the Cadillac Gage V-150 Commando and GKN Simba armored vehicles, and would be used in convoy escort, checkpoint and base security, urban operations, and rapid deployment.

The Chaiseri Defence First Win 2 wheeled armored vehicle, said to be potentially the leading candidate for the Philippine Army's LTV Acquisition Project. Photo credits to original source.

Project Summary:

Light Tactical Vehicle Acquisition Project:

Note: Edited as of 25 March 2021.

* End User: Philippine Army (different frontline units)

* Quantity: 200 units

* Modernization Phase: Horizon 2 Phase of RAFPMP

* Project ABC: Php4,000,000,000.00

* Acquisition Mode: Government-to-Government (G2G) deal between Philippine DND and still undetermined country.

* Source of Funding: Multi-Year Contractual Authority for still unspecified number of years, using General Appropriations Act (GAA) from still undetermined year.

* SARO Release/s: TBA

* Winning Proponent: TBA

* Product for Delivery: TBA

* Contract Price: TBA

* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag: #PALTVAcquisition 

* Status: Project pre-procurement process ongoing. Officially, the Philippine Army has no decision yet, although MaxDefense Philippines believes that a decision was already made but not announced.

Overview:

The Philippine Army has been using its limited number of wheeled Armored Personnel Carriers for other missions other than mechanized warfare. This is due to the reduced number of cavalry vehicles due to the retirement of numerous 1/4-ton trucks like the M151, M1777 Delta Mini Cruiser, CMC Cruiser, and the AM General HMMWV "Humvee" utility vehicles.

These vehicles previously provided the infantry with mobility and platform for heavy weapons like 7.62mm and 12.7mm machine guns, or 90mm or 107mm recoilless rifles.

The quick reduction of these vehicles in the Philippine Army forced the service to deploy wheeled APCs to provide armored protection and heavy weapons for convoys against ambushes, or in roadside checkpoints and base defense & security.

But this means less vehicles for mechanized infantry. And considering the small fleet of APCs in the Philippine Army, this would not be beneficial. It is obvious that a new vehicle is required for such menial jobs.

Consideration was made on protecting the infantry carried by these vehicles. While soft skinned trucks can be used on safe and friendly areas, or outside the frontline, armor and IED protection are needed in many occasions. This became the main concern and reason for looking for a vehicle with armor and MRAP-like capabilities.

While the Philippine Army is looking at a smaller vehicle than the V-150 Command and Simba 4x4 APCs, the new armored light tactical vehicles were specified to carry a 9-man rifle squad, while acting as a weapons platform. Thus the requirement for a seating capacity of 11 men including 1 driver and 1 weapon operator.

The large passenger capacity disqualified a lot of potential suppliers for the project including Kia Motors, which provided a couple of their new Kia KLTV for testing by the Philippine Army as a potential replacement to armored HMMWV vehicles.

According to MaxDefense Philippines, the Chaiseri First Win 2 appears to be leading the selection process of the Philippine Army, although offers from Turkey, Israel, South Korea, Ukraine, and some Middle Eastern and Eastern European countries have been considered as well.

Partial Technical Requirements:

Based on MaxDefense Philippines' previous post regarding the vehicle's technical requirements, among those publicly made available are the following:

* Crew Capacity: 11 crew and dismounts
* Engine: diesel with at least 300PS output
* Drive Mode: 4x4 with Automatic Transmission
* Length: maximum of 6.25 meters
* Gross Weight: maximum of 14 tons
* Ballistic Protection: STANAG 4569 Level 2 compliant
* Mine/IED Protection: STANAG 4569 Level 2 compliant

* Main Weapon: 7.62mm general purpose machine gun on manned armored turret, with some vehicles with RCWS and option for 12.7mm heavy machine gun

Other requirements were not posted as requested by MDP's sources.

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U P D A T E S:
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20 March 2021:

MaxDefense Philippines released a blog entry discussing the possibility of Chaiseri Defence's First Win 2 wheeled armored vehicle being the leading model for the Philippine Army's Light Tactical Vehicle Acquisition Project.

The blog entry can be accessed on the link below:

"Is Philippine Army leaning on Thailand's Chaiseri First Win 2 MRAP for its Light Tactical Vehicle requirements?" - first posted on 20 March 2021.

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First edit and release: 25 March 2021
Copyright MaxDefense Philippines / Philippine Defense Resource