Rocky C
06-20-10, 04:30 PM
Corps, Army hope to field lighter stronger vehicles by 2015.
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 20, 2010 9:12:16 EDT
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ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program officials are now testing vehicle prototypes at Aberdeen Test Center, Md., and Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.
They are searching for a vehicle both the Marine Corps and the Army intend to field in 2015; one that will be more mobile and reliable than a Humvee, but provide the protection of a Mine Resistant, Ambush-Protected vehicle.
Commandant Gen. James Conway, however, has called the program into question, saying industry has not yet developed a vehicle light enough to be carried by helicopter.
Among prototypes now being tested are models produced by BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicle, a dual venture between AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems. Each company delivered prototypes across three weight classes in early May.
Over the next 12 months, the prototypes will undergo testing that will help complete program requirements in preparation for a full and open competition scheduled to begin next summer.
“We’ll say, ‘OK, did we get it right or did we ask for a bridge too far in requirements?’ ” Army Lt. Col. Wolfgang Petermann, product manager for the Army’s JLTV program, told reporters at a June 3 prototype demonstration.
Reporters had a chance to ride in two styles of prototypes.
The prototypes, from each of the three companies, rolled over the hills, dips and bumps on the dirt test track with ease.
The four-seat Category A vehicles are the lightest of the prototypes so they can be loaded into a C-130 aircraft and, it is hoped, sling-loaded from CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters. They have a payload of about 3,500 pounds.
Category A vehicles will “support those early entry requirements, so units have that combat capability, so they can hit the ground and get moving right away,” Petermann said. There will also be a Category A Enhanced Protection variant, which will provide more armor protection when needed.
The Category B vehicles will have six seats, more armor protection and a payload of up to 4,500 pounds. Category C vehicles will be designed for the support role and have payloads of up to 5,100 pounds.
All the JLTV prototypes are designed to provide “MRAP-like protection” to passengers from the powerful, homemade bombs that have become commonplace on battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Dean Johnson, deputy program manager for the Marine Corps JLTV program.
The prototypes have a base armor package, and also have suspensions and attachment points to handle additional armor packages capable of stopping sophisticated explosively formed penetrator bombs, also known as EFPs. The prototypes have either V-shaped or inverted U-shaped hulls to redirect the force of bomb blasts away from the vehicle.
All the seats are designed to be attached to the walls to better protect passengers. Seats attached to the floor of the vehicle, like those on the Humvee, transfer the blast energy to the passengers.
The windows and windshields on the JLTV are smaller and positioned closer to the ceiling than on the Humvee to provide better protection. All the prototypes are designed to offer improved rollover protection over the Humvee.
In addition to protection, all the prototypes are equipped with the option to have a turret gunner or the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, or CROWS, that allows a service member to track and kill targets from a computer monitor inside the safety of the vehicle.
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 20, 2010 9:12:16 EDT
<FORM id=hidden></FORM>
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program officials are now testing vehicle prototypes at Aberdeen Test Center, Md., and Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.
They are searching for a vehicle both the Marine Corps and the Army intend to field in 2015; one that will be more mobile and reliable than a Humvee, but provide the protection of a Mine Resistant, Ambush-Protected vehicle.
Commandant Gen. James Conway, however, has called the program into question, saying industry has not yet developed a vehicle light enough to be carried by helicopter.
Among prototypes now being tested are models produced by BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicle, a dual venture between AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems. Each company delivered prototypes across three weight classes in early May.
Over the next 12 months, the prototypes will undergo testing that will help complete program requirements in preparation for a full and open competition scheduled to begin next summer.
“We’ll say, ‘OK, did we get it right or did we ask for a bridge too far in requirements?’ ” Army Lt. Col. Wolfgang Petermann, product manager for the Army’s JLTV program, told reporters at a June 3 prototype demonstration.
Reporters had a chance to ride in two styles of prototypes.
The prototypes, from each of the three companies, rolled over the hills, dips and bumps on the dirt test track with ease.
The four-seat Category A vehicles are the lightest of the prototypes so they can be loaded into a C-130 aircraft and, it is hoped, sling-loaded from CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters. They have a payload of about 3,500 pounds.
Category A vehicles will “support those early entry requirements, so units have that combat capability, so they can hit the ground and get moving right away,” Petermann said. There will also be a Category A Enhanced Protection variant, which will provide more armor protection when needed.
The Category B vehicles will have six seats, more armor protection and a payload of up to 4,500 pounds. Category C vehicles will be designed for the support role and have payloads of up to 5,100 pounds.
All the JLTV prototypes are designed to provide “MRAP-like protection” to passengers from the powerful, homemade bombs that have become commonplace on battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Dean Johnson, deputy program manager for the Marine Corps JLTV program.
The prototypes have a base armor package, and also have suspensions and attachment points to handle additional armor packages capable of stopping sophisticated explosively formed penetrator bombs, also known as EFPs. The prototypes have either V-shaped or inverted U-shaped hulls to redirect the force of bomb blasts away from the vehicle.
All the seats are designed to be attached to the walls to better protect passengers. Seats attached to the floor of the vehicle, like those on the Humvee, transfer the blast energy to the passengers.
The windows and windshields on the JLTV are smaller and positioned closer to the ceiling than on the Humvee to provide better protection. All the prototypes are designed to offer improved rollover protection over the Humvee.
In addition to protection, all the prototypes are equipped with the option to have a turret gunner or the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, or CROWS, that allows a service member to track and kill targets from a computer monitor inside the safety of the vehicle.