thedrifter
02-08-06, 05:33 PM
Marines Delay Fielding of Scout Vehicles
InsideDefense.com NewsStand | Jason Ma | February 08, 2006
The Marine Corps' plan to field two developmental vehicles in Iraq early this year has been delayed until this summer due to reliability problems discovered during testing last fall, according to an official at Marine Corps Systems Command.
The Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle (RST-V) has a hybrid electric drive; a reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting suite; a command, control, communications and intelligence suite; and an integrated survivability package. The vehicle also has a retractable wheel base to fit inside the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. General Dynamics built four RST-Vs for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Instead of going to Iraq this month, the RST-Vs are now expected to go in June or July, said Maj. Jim Franks, RST-V project officer at MARCORSYSCOM. He stressed that the reliability problems are similar to those of any other new program. The compressed time line General Dynamics is working under prevented the company from anticipating problems and fixing them in advance, he said.
The problems are mainly related to the vehicle's software, though there have also been issues with hardware such as the brake cylinder and the engine, he explained. No single problem is a “show stopper,” but together the issues generated enough concern to prompt the Marine Corps to spend more time getting the RST-V ready, he said. Some long-lead materials from General Dynamics' suppliers were also late in arriving, he added.
“Where you don't want to have a problem is in theater,” Franks told Inside the Navy in an interview Feb. 1. “That's why you test.”
Last March, General Dynamics received a $5.9 million contract to upgrade two RST-Vs for a potential deployment to Iraq. The upgrades included the armor package, reliability improvements, air conditioning, a government-furnished command and control payload, and a 30 kilowatt export power capability. A spokesman for MARCORSYSCOM said the additional software and hardware work on the RST-V would cost $1.2 million.
While the vehicle was designed for reconnaissance and surveillance, the two vehicles going to Iraq are meant to demonstrate their abilities in generating power and transferring it to other systems. Some of the software problems have affected the RST-V's power generation system. The power system is designed to operate on battery power, diesel power or in a hybrid propulsion mode. Having a vehicle generate power for other systems would help reduce the logistics burden of expeditionary forces by eliminating the need to carry generators, Franks said.
The software problems affected the RST-V's engine control and power inverter, which generates 30 kilowatts that can be transferred to another system, said Jim Flynn, GD Land Systems' business development manager for engineering programs. The inverter was not providing consistent levels of power during testing last fall, he explained.
The software problems also contributed to the hybrid engine shutting down a few times, Flynn added. Problems had occurred in the interactions between the battery and the diesel engine, he said. But an initial software version was causing the power inverter and engine problems at the time, and follow-up versions were already in the works, he said.
“We've had very, very goods results” in contractor testing so far, Flynn said.
The Marine Corps plans to use the RST-V to power the Unit Operations Center (UOC) and counterbattery radars, he said. The UOC is a mobile command and control system designed to speed up decision-making by digitally collecting, processing and distributing tactical data. Built by General Dynamics, the UOC is already in use in Iraq.
Testing on the RST-V began last October at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and stopped short in December when the Marine Corps determined that further testing would be meaningless until the reliability problems were solved first, Franks said. The fixes should be ready by April or May, and the Marine Corps will continue with the testing, he noted. So far, General Dynamics has shown good results in addressing the problems, he said.
“They're having good progress on their own testing,” Franks said.
Ellie
InsideDefense.com NewsStand | Jason Ma | February 08, 2006
The Marine Corps' plan to field two developmental vehicles in Iraq early this year has been delayed until this summer due to reliability problems discovered during testing last fall, according to an official at Marine Corps Systems Command.
The Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle (RST-V) has a hybrid electric drive; a reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting suite; a command, control, communications and intelligence suite; and an integrated survivability package. The vehicle also has a retractable wheel base to fit inside the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. General Dynamics built four RST-Vs for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Instead of going to Iraq this month, the RST-Vs are now expected to go in June or July, said Maj. Jim Franks, RST-V project officer at MARCORSYSCOM. He stressed that the reliability problems are similar to those of any other new program. The compressed time line General Dynamics is working under prevented the company from anticipating problems and fixing them in advance, he said.
The problems are mainly related to the vehicle's software, though there have also been issues with hardware such as the brake cylinder and the engine, he explained. No single problem is a “show stopper,” but together the issues generated enough concern to prompt the Marine Corps to spend more time getting the RST-V ready, he said. Some long-lead materials from General Dynamics' suppliers were also late in arriving, he added.
“Where you don't want to have a problem is in theater,” Franks told Inside the Navy in an interview Feb. 1. “That's why you test.”
Last March, General Dynamics received a $5.9 million contract to upgrade two RST-Vs for a potential deployment to Iraq. The upgrades included the armor package, reliability improvements, air conditioning, a government-furnished command and control payload, and a 30 kilowatt export power capability. A spokesman for MARCORSYSCOM said the additional software and hardware work on the RST-V would cost $1.2 million.
While the vehicle was designed for reconnaissance and surveillance, the two vehicles going to Iraq are meant to demonstrate their abilities in generating power and transferring it to other systems. Some of the software problems have affected the RST-V's power generation system. The power system is designed to operate on battery power, diesel power or in a hybrid propulsion mode. Having a vehicle generate power for other systems would help reduce the logistics burden of expeditionary forces by eliminating the need to carry generators, Franks said.
The software problems affected the RST-V's engine control and power inverter, which generates 30 kilowatts that can be transferred to another system, said Jim Flynn, GD Land Systems' business development manager for engineering programs. The inverter was not providing consistent levels of power during testing last fall, he explained.
The software problems also contributed to the hybrid engine shutting down a few times, Flynn added. Problems had occurred in the interactions between the battery and the diesel engine, he said. But an initial software version was causing the power inverter and engine problems at the time, and follow-up versions were already in the works, he said.
“We've had very, very goods results” in contractor testing so far, Flynn said.
The Marine Corps plans to use the RST-V to power the Unit Operations Center (UOC) and counterbattery radars, he said. The UOC is a mobile command and control system designed to speed up decision-making by digitally collecting, processing and distributing tactical data. Built by General Dynamics, the UOC is already in use in Iraq.
Testing on the RST-V began last October at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and stopped short in December when the Marine Corps determined that further testing would be meaningless until the reliability problems were solved first, Franks said. The fixes should be ready by April or May, and the Marine Corps will continue with the testing, he noted. So far, General Dynamics has shown good results in addressing the problems, he said.
“They're having good progress on their own testing,” Franks said.
Ellie