One of the potential bidders to beef up Canada’s LAV belly armour has questions about how proposed solutions will be tested.
Remember this from MERX last November?
This requirement is for the Department of National Defence (DND) to procure Belly Armour Kits (BAK) which will provide enhanced armour protection to the LAV II fleet of vehicles, including the Coyote and Bison armoured vehicle. The kit will be installed on the LAV II armoured vehicles deployed in operational theatres where the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and mine threats are considered high.
According to a bid update document obtained by MILNEWS.ca (PDF downloadable here), a potential bidder appears to worry that the proposed test targets (things that’ll be blown up while using the proposed system as a way to test how well the solution will protect from the blast) are weaker than the real LAV, which could eliminate solutions that may work on the real thing.
The CF’s response to the concern, in its own words:
A: To ensure fairness of the evaluation process, all Hull Targets were manufactured using the same process and specifications.
1. Production of all Hull Targets was completed in accordance with the vehicle CFTO. Welding of all Hull Targets was completed by qualified welders.
2. The integrity of all welds has been validated by Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) confirming that there are no cracks, porosity, inclusions or lack of fusion.
3. Grinding of welds is permitted as per the specification used in the production of all Hull Targets.
4. All Hull Targets have the center weld of the 1/4″ armour plate ground flush as per our specifications. This is a deviation from the drawing provided in the RFP, but is within the CFTO specification, which is more representative of the vehicle.
5. The welds along the top 1/2″ mild steel plate will not be evaluated for failure during testing.
6. All Hull Targets will be inspected prior to testing to ensure the fairness of the bid evaluation process.
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