Company insight
Versatile and battle-tested: the FRSN comes of age
Designed by Danish company Glaucus to sustain the effectiveness of a fighting force by moving repair and maintenance capability close to the front line, the Forward Repair System Nato is proving its worth in the field in Ukraine. Christoffer Gregers Glæsel, Glaucus’ managing director, tells us how the solution ensures fighting forces have all they need for battle damage repair.
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attle damage to essential vehicles can cripple a fighting force and stop it in its tracks. Typically, repairs can be done at workshops far removed from the front line, relying heavily on armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs) to reach high-risk areas. This set-up is full of risks and, when ARVs are encumbered they are vulnerable and, in many cases, immobile. With the Forward Repair System Nato (FRSN) from Glaucus, this can all change. The FRSN is a highly mobile covered workshop mounted onto a 20ft Nato STANAG flatrack, and is capable of providing full maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) and battle damage repair (BDR) capability. Its unique capabilities as a versatile, agile and fully equipped repair station have been well established through its use by the Danish Army and the US Army, and by thorough testing by the French Army. Now, however, the FRSN can claim to be tried and tested in the thick of battle. “Units were donated to Ukrainian forces through the Danish government and they are being used in the field,” says Christoffer Gregers Glæsel, managing director of Glaucus. “We knew it was a good concept, but European armies have been working very much out of FOBs in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are quite static in terms of the logistical footprint. The situation is very different in Ukraine, where rapid movement is essential.” “All feedback has been very positive and the configurability has worked well,” he adds. “Its versatility is very important and each component has performed exactly as intended. And it is not only being used to repair friendly vehicle systems, but also captured vehicles. It is even being used to replace barrels on artillery pieces, a process that we had been testing, though we didn’t know if it would be used for that purpose.”
Glaucus' Forward Repair System Nato (FRSN) in action.
Fully loaded and ready to move The FRSN is the perfect link between the armoured recovery vehicle, which has some tools but is not tasked with handling major repairs, and the fixed deployable workshop. It is equipped with a comprehensive set of tools that pack away into a small space, and it can be customised with a range of toolkits to suit the specific needs of a deployment. The FRSN shelter assembly is a cube-shaped enclosure approximately 2200x2200x2300mm with a reinforced ceiling, and the doors hinge out to provide additional covered area. The crane incorporated into the structure can move and replace major components from tracked and wheeled vehicles, including the 6,800kg heavy power pack from the Leopard 2 main battle tank. A 70 kVA diesel generator provides enough power to simultaneously run all subsystems, including lighting, induction heater and power take-off for the crane. In March this year, Canada announced it would be sending Bergepanzer-3 (Buffalo) ARVs and Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, so the FRSN will be ideally suited to carrying out repairs, as its crane can handle the weight of the engine and major assemblies. The new FRSN M/22 – which is environment
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independent, having been tested in temperatures ranging from -32° to +60°C – can be furnished with a range of toolkits for MRO/BDR, including repair to engines and mechanical systems, hydraulic hoses, electrical cables, electro optics and weapons systems.
“It is a complete tactical repair solution,” says Glæsel. “In addition to being a forward repair module, it has complete tool load and capability for electricians and technicians, whatever kind of repairs they are undertaking. We are working on a complete range of toolkits, but the customer can also use their own toolkits if they prefer.” In the Russo-Ukraine War, FRSN units are firmly on the front line and are playing a crucial role in returning equipment – including captured vehicles – to service. This could make a huge difference to the course of the war, in which speed of movement and response are key factors.
The FRSN can greatly reduce the burden of logistics, manpower and time required to get heavy vehicles like tanks or artillery pieces back into service, and that could be a gamechanger in a war that is fast-changing and unpredictable. ●
www.glaucus.dk 43
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