MRAPs

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Come on now the whole "nuke" thing was just a joke to lighten things up at the end of the post.
V/R
Pat

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Good Evening!
Thought you might want to see what's here that's new and what could be coming in the next couple of years or sooner. Everyone seems to scrambling to either get or improve the MRAP's they have or both. A newer class (M-ATV) is now available to the USA made by Oshkosh and Plasan North America (for advanced armor tech.). Oshkosh has been awarded a contract by the DOD for the USA of an order for 2,444 units with potential to reach 10K units. They will be heading to Afghanistan by the end of this year, 45 were on hand already which the army took delivery of. Though not mentioned seems to me it's going to replace the Hummer for GP use with those numbers, pictures follow.


Next is BAEs (of South Africa) RG35 crew 2 with a 15 passenger capacity. Tested to climb up to a 60 degree incline. No buyers yet but expected to be tested by UK at the end of the year or early 2010, pictures follow.


Finally, Universal Engineering's (UE) RANGER crew 2 with either
4 to 6 passenger capacity with modular construction. Available in 4X4, 6X6 and 8X8 versions. No buyers yet though UK interested, UE is a private British firm, picture follows.


RG35 and RANGER meet Level 4 A/B mark as set by STANAG 4569 for MAX. protection in Class (Anti-Tank Mines, Shaped Charges Etc.). Both about 550HP, 115km (70mph?)on road with a 1000km range
(550mi?). Sources Defence Update and US DOD sites.

V/R
Pat

[Lt. Ketch]

Originally Posted by FASTBOAT TOUGH

Attachment 8850Come on now the whole "nuke" thing was just a joke to lighten things up at the end of the post.
V/R
Pat

I would like to see the mushroom cload on my screen though.

Nice pictures Fastboat. I'm looking for a new car. Do you think the dealership would have one of those for under 10 grad?

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

LT.,
You'll be a little short! The M(RAP)-ATV will cost you 73.3K, I guess that's a bargain considering the Hummer 1 civilian version cost 100K when it was available. The more I dig into this the more I'm finding the major effort being put into the MRAP by various countries. Also there appears to be the same effort being put into new APC designs. A lot of joint venture stuff going on out there. But APC development will need to be a new thread. Hey maybe I can go there myself (Great there he goes again!)!?!
Pat

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Good Morning!
This is the latest off the drawing board vehicle that might make into the game at some point hopefully. This vehicle falls into if you will the "lightweight" category of MRAPs with all the same design characteristics. Designated, Lightweight Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV-L), THALES Australia and PLASAN SASE of Israel have teamed together to build the HAWKEI which has its roots in the Bushmaster vehicle. Australia's' military has bought 1300 units which will be field by 2013 to replace the military's entire Land Rover fleet. The HAWKEI will be available to buyers outside Australia. Boeing Australia is working on new logistic systems to support the HAWKEI. Picture follows:



Postscript: CBS Evening News I recorded while at work ran a story on the increased troop request when they showed a shot of
2 M-ATV's in Afganistan. Please see post above on the M-ATV.
Sources: Defence Update and CBS News.

[Imp]

the "lightweight" category of MRAPs

For taxis most of these are incredibly heavy so much so that most bridges are unusable. From what I have read this weight & the fact it is high up due to mine protection means offroad performance is severly limited, already been quite a few roll over accidents with them. Perhaps in game should be given 2WD possibly 4WD for "lightweights" move rates to represent this.

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Just wanted to provide more info on the HAWKEI by THALES. Can carry six passengers at plus 110km/h (60-65mph?) all info seems to be "coy" about the speed, have seen this on other sites besides my named sources. Info also seems to indicate fully loaded at top speed a range of 1000km (550mi.?) can be achieved. Have found no info concerning any issues about top heaviness or rollovers. It would be at this point important to note that every MRAP AND PMV-L I've found are designed for the present and future battle field commander, in short they are fully battle field integrated (BFI) and have separate on-board power systems to support those BFI systems these are not your Willy's Jeep or first gen Hummers. This info from articles in the last 24-48hrs. Sources: AussieDigger.com (ADF Active Duty and Retiree site) and DefenceTalk.com. Also YouTube has a clip, I didn't watch. Better picture follows:

Good Night and Have a Better Tommorrow!
V/R
Pat

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Just a quick update Osh Kosh has just delivered it's 1000th
M-ATV as reported by army-technology.com. Lots going on in the MRAP world but will do my best with this and APC's. Thanks!!
Pat
Happy Holidays to ALL!

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Good Morning!
Next up the SandCat. Designed by PLASAN of Israel to replace the AIL Storm jeeps of the IDF, it was relaunched at EUROSATORY Show in 2008 as a brand with OSHKOSH Defence.
It's built on a comm. FORD 550 chassis w/a FORD 6.4L diesel with duel fuel tanks TC of 120L, 325hp @ 3000rpm w/ an ALLISON 2000 Auto Trans. Max Speed 75mph/120km/h. Payloads by variant Utility 2,109kg/Crew 5, Transport 1,814kg/Crew 8 and Special Ops (SOV) 2300kg/Crew 4. Features V-Hull, full crew advanced suppression seating for mine blast etc., 5 zone fire suppression system for the crew and engine compartments, fuel cells,wheel wells and exterior hull. Superstructure has three layered armed panels, ceramic outer tiles, middle wall and inner SPALL Liners throughout for fragmentation protection. Also available is a heavier "B" armor package that is crew applied in the field. Fully loaded it also has a 18in. vertical climb/clearance rate w/39 degree side slope man.
Current interest British Army poss. 400 units under the LPPV Program. ADF 121 UNITS under "OVERLANDER" Phase 4 program and the Dutch unspec. # for their Wheeled Vehicle Replacement Program (WVRP). As always:

And no this is NOT the USA/USMC M-ATV.
ALSO as a side note the RANGER (posted earlier) is undergoing validation testing w/ the "BA" in Dorset UK.
Sources: Pri. army-technology.com (and photos) Sec. defence-update.com
Have a good night!!
Pat

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Well I first reported on this vehicle back Oct. 2009 (Pg 2.) and as I followed up expressed that I thought it would be chosen in the end, well it was last month by Austrailia for the Land 121 Program. HAWKEI has made the grade. It has been reported by my other sources as well, and it's about three years out for game consideration. This is just for tracking purposes.
http://defense-update.com/20111214_hawkei_selected.html
http://defense-update.com/20090929_hawkei-2.html

Regards,
Pat