The 25th edition of the International Armoured Vehicles conference, IAV in short, organised by Defence iQ, took place in a new venue; after years at the Twickenham stadium, the event was moved to the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre, a location more used to host discussions on aviation issues rather than heavy armour.
The move proved successful, especially as far as the sponsors exhibition was concerned, the available room allowing to showcase in real numerous vehicles, the heavier being the Ajax cavalry tracked platform, followed closely by the Boxer MIV 8×8.
As usual, our readers will find at the bottom of this introduction the articles on the topics we selected, as it is impossible to follow and report on 56 presentations, four panels and 15 workshops.
Ukraine was obviously mentioned in most of the presentations, the mix of manned-unmanned systems used to spare human lives, both on land and in the sky becoming a solution that many armies are considering. It was made clear by several speakers that although loitering munitions and first-person view drones are having a considerable impact in the Russian-Ukrainian war, the role of armour remains, its survivability being dependent not only on technical solutions but also on tactics, techniques, and procedures, while the availability of self-propelled defensive systems against UAVs, either integrated on manned or unmanned platforms, would certainly improve the armour freedom of movement on today battlefield.
Presentations concerning many systems programmes, as well as on the evolution of armoured formations of numerous countries, both in terms of organisation and platforms upgrades, represented the core of the conference. Industry presented the latest breakthrough in terms of mobility, lethality, and firepower.
All in all, three intense days of information gathering and networking with the armoured vehicles community.
Protecting armoured vehicles from drones and FPVs
GDLS gives latest updates on Ajax
Italian Army details plans for increasing its heavy formations effectiveness
SpearUAV proposes its multirole loitering munition and C-UAS systems
First Hungarian Land Forces battalion equipped with Lynx IFVs closes to its IOC
