Zephyr undergoes trials

Christopher F Foss

Wednesday, 9 September, 2009

Creation UK Ltd (Stand 757) has developed, using company funding, the Zephyr Special Requirements Vehicle (SRV) and is now building a pre-production batch of four or five vehicles, with one of these being shown at DSEi.

Two pre-production Zephyr SRV have been completed so far, with the remainder due by the end of 2009. The company has built a mobility test rig to prove the Zephyr SRV concept and this was completed in 2007 and then put through mobility trials.

The version being shown at DSEi is the SRV in Urban Patrol (UP) configuration, which has a crew of two, commander and driver and carries at least four people in the rear.

In addition to the baseline UP version, Creation is already marketing a number of body options, including utility with a protected two-door cab with flatbed at rear, and utility with a four-person cab and flatbed.

Special forces require a vehicle with enhanced situational awareness and the ability to be fitted with a wider range of weapons, including machine guns and automatic grenade launchers.

To meet different user requirements, Creation has a number of optional fits for the Zephyr SRV, including weapons, communications, enhanced situational awareness and devices to counter improvised explosive devices.

First Zephyr SRV has a gross vehicle weight of 7 tonnes, of which 2.5 tonnes is payload, but a planned 6x6 variant will take the gross vehicle weight to about 10 tonnes.

Protection level depends on requirements, but the baseline vehicle is fitted with an integral blast mitigation system, which provides for a minimum of STANAG 4569 Level 2 mine protection. The remainder of the vehicle has STANAG 4569 Level 2 to Level 3 small arms protection.

Zephyr SRV in its UP version is one of the contenders for a British Army requirement for Light Protected Patrol Vehicles to replace the current Land Rover Snatch vehicles.