DVD 2007 TAKES SHAPE
By Julian Nettlefold, Editor, BATTLESPACE
03 May 07. DVD™ 2007 is taking place at Millbrook from June 27th to 28th. The growing requirement for new fleets of Mine Protected Vehicles will highlight a number of offerings from suppliers such as BAE Systems, International, AutomotiveTechnik, Jenkel and others.
In addition, SUV IPT supremo Nigel Gilhead is expected to announce that the OUVs requirement for the new fleet of vehicles to replace the existing Land Rover, Pinzgauer and RB-44s will be officially launched. Firms offering vehicles for this requirement include Land Rover with a rumoured 6×6 offering based on the Land Rover Perentie vehicle, JCB with its new exciting High Mobility Mover, International with its new MXT-MVA, Lockheed Martin variants with its latest HMT variant as offered for the U.S. JLTV Requirement, Iveco with Panther variants, Mercedes with its range of Unimog and ‘G’ Wagen vehicles, Mowag with its Duro III, Ricardo and Supacat with its HMT variants.
FRES, also in the headlines will feature offerings from BAE, Iveco, General Dynamics in particular. Given that the ‘Trials of Truth’ will be taking pace during DVD, the MoD has requested that manufacturers do not take vehicles away from these trials, given the timescale.
In addition there will be a number of armoring solutions offered to meet a growing requirement to protect soft skin vehicles and trucks. Hobson Industries will be offering a blast solution manufactured in association with Aegis. Hobsons’ Armoured Steel plate is also being used on the Exmoor Trim BALLISTA-TEK™ ballistic vehicle seating for Military and Civilian vehicles shown for the first time. This system offers occupants additional protection from the effects of land mines and small arms fire. The company will be demonstrating two versions, the first which utilises Armoured Steel plate developed by Hobson Industries and special spall catchers to protect from fragments and blast mitigation. The second option includes Moulded Dyneena® sections incorporated within the seat frame to which spall catchers are fitted to protect from Blast, fragments and small arms fire, both versions are designed to offer protection to Stanag level 1 section B (DM31)
Exmoor Trim will also be announcing a number of products including a heavy duty Machine Gunners Platform Seat which has been designed for most types of light skinned military vehicles. This pedestal can be mounted directly to vehicle floors with additional brackets, and come with the option of Machine Pintal mount which has been designed for use with most weapons currently in use. With rise and fall of 600mm and 360º rotation which can be locked in any position, giving excellent fields of fire. In addition the company will be showing its Exmoor Trim Mesh seat which brings together Spacetec™ and Outlast® technologies to offer unrivalled comfort and functionality, fully flame retardant and waterproof, this exceptionally strong woven fabric will not rip even when punctured. The combination of both Outlast and Spacetec offers good thermal properties in Hot and Cold conditions whilst giving good body support even when wet.
A number of manufacturers will be offering armoured cab solutions; these include Penman, MAN, Mercedes, Iveco, MacNeillie, Oshkosh and PlasanSalsa.
The show will be bigger and better than last year with the inclusion of a third IPT, GSV. General Support Vehicles Integrated Project Team (GSV IPT) has become the latest IPT to choose DVD as its annual stakeholder event, confirming it as Europe’s leading forum for those involved in the design, supply and use of service vehicles and field support systems. GSV IPT will join DVD founder and organiser the SUV IPT (Specialist and Utility Vehicle Integrated Project Team) and ESS IPT (Engineering Systems Support Integrated Project Team), helping to ensure that DVD2007 will be even more comprehensive than last year’s record-breaking event.
“DVD brings to