Kappa optronics, a specialist for cameras and vision systems based in Lower Saxony, Germany, is equipping 59 Piranha IV 8×8 wheeled armored vehicles with Driver Vision Enhancer (DVE) systems for the Swiss GDELS Mowag GmbH, the partners announced at Eurosatory 2022 in Paris. The new development will be based on Kappa’s “Armor Eye” driver vision enhancer concept, which is scalable and adaptable to customer needs. The jointly developed systems will be fully integrated into the vehicle architecture and are designed to ensure safe driving hatch down and optimum performance in the field.
Kappa’s Armor Eye product family of advanced rugged camera solutions offers maximum flexibility for customized and program-specific DVE and SAS designs and integrations. The high-performance rugged vision solutions can be specifically configured according to the vehicle type and the mission tasks. Latency-free driver vision and crew views in all directions, the latest night vision technology, highly integrated image fusion and freely definable views for different operational roles within the armored vehicle are key features of this state-of-the-art technology.
“Kappa’s vision systems come with unbeatably low latency, which is a key factor for us. We were also convinced by the modular concept, so we can implement different expansion upgrades for our customers depending on their applications. We implement a cutting-edge, fully digital high-performance vision system for protected vehicles. In our partnership with GDELS-Mowag, we are advancing technology. It’s great to see what is being initiated throughout Europe right now,” says Giuseppe Chillari, managing director of GDELS-Mowag. Johannes Overhues, co-shareholder and CEO of Kappa optronics.
The Piranha IV is the fourth member of the Piranha family of armoured vehicles and is being developed as a private venture by the Swiss MOWAG corporation (since 2003 part of General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems). The Mowag Piranha is a family of armoured fighting vehicles designed by the Swiss company Mowag (since 2010 General Dynamics European Land Systems – Mowag GmbH). Five generations of vehicles have been produced, manufactured by Mowag or under licence by other companies (notably the LAV), and variants are in service with military forces throughout the world. The Piranha IV is heavier than its predecessors.
