Base tests latest Army concept vehicles
By MELANTHIA MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 35 minutes ago
SEATTLE - Taking a page from auto manufacturers, the Army has rolled out several concept vehicles it hopes will help spawn new technologies for the next generation.
The two utility trucks and two maneuver sustainment vehicles are part of a $60 million Army program to modernize military tactical vehicles like the Humvee and the Hemmet, the Army's large transport truck. They are to be used strictly for demonstration and aren't likely to go into production, Army officials said.
The trucks, which arrived at Fort Lewis earlier this month, were tested Wednesday by soldiers with the 14th Battalion and the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
"We've given them to the soldiers to play with them and try to break 'em," said Tim Connor, a Defense Department contractor based at Fort Lewis who is overseeing the project.
All four trucks are equipped with remote weapons systems, night-vision capabilities and diesel-electric hybrid engines. They also include ballistics glass, video cameras and touch-screen controls.
The Army wants to explore such technology for future use on aging vehicles like the Humvee, which doesn't have enough power or protection to carry out today's military missions.
"What we're running with now has become antiquated," Connor said.
The quieter hybrid system would be especially useful during combat missions, Connor said.
"If you want to sneak up on someone, you turn on the electric ... which also boosts the horsepower," he said.
Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp., Warrenville, Ill.-based International Military and Government LLC and Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings Inc. built the concept trucks, called joint light tactical vehicles.
Connor said the two utility variant vehicles are comparable to a Humvee, but are heavily armored, have bigger wheels and — like the other concept trucks — are designed to sustain a blast from beneath the carriage.
The larger maneuver sustainment vehicles have a robotic crane capable of lifting 13 tons of cargo. They also have a companion trailer with its own motor so it can be operated independently of the truck, Connor said.
"As big as they are and as heavy as they are ... when they hit dips in the road you hardly feel it," he said.
After testing them on gravel roads Wednesday, soldiers used the vehicles to move container-sized metal platforms, utilizing the crane to lift one end of the platform, then roll it on and off the truck. The test simulates supply drops at an airfield, Army officials said.
The trucks were then driven through large puddles of water that would intimidate most passenger cars.
The demo trucks will remain at the post south of Tacoma through April. The Marine Corps plans its own tests of the vehicles during the last two weeks of April, and then they will go on display at the
Pentagon, Connor said.