MILITARY VEHICLE NEWS
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Millbrook, based in Bedfordshire, UK, makes a significant contribution to the quality and performance of military vehicles worldwide. Its specialist expertise is focussed in two distinct areas: test programmes to help armed services and their suppliers ensure that their vehicles and systems work as the specification requires; and design and build work to upgrade new or existing vehicles, evaluate vehicle capability and investigate in-service failures. Complementing these is driver and service training and a hospitality business that allows customers to use selected areas of Millbrook’s remarkable facilities for demonstrations and exhibitions.
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www.millbrook.co.uk/military
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28 May 09. BAE Systems submitted its proposal to the U.S. Government to produce the next generation of medium tactical vehicles for the U.S. Army. The contract is expected to be awarded in July for an estimated 12,400 vehicles and 10,900 trailers to be delivered to the U.S. Army from 2010 through 2014. “We believe our proposal is the best value for our Armed Services and the American taxpayer.” said Chris Chambers, vice president and general manager of Global Tactical Systems Programs at Sealy, Texas. “Our proposal incorporates our 17 years of knowledge and experience gained in the manufacture of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) in Texas and fulfills all the requirements in the request for proposal.” BAE Systems won the U.S. Government contract to produce the replacement for the U.S. Army’s aging fleet of M-939 and M-35 cargo trucks in 1991. Since then, more that 53,000 FMTVs and trailers have been produced in 21 variants in the high-quality facility in Sealy, Texas. The FMTV is the medium tactical vehicle platform of choice for the U.S. Army and performs a variety of roles from cargo and troop carrier, to shop and cargo van carrier, to artillery and air defense missile weapons carrier.
The vehicle has proven itself able to meet the ever-evolving needs of Soldiers and Marines. BAE Systems developed the Low Signature Armored Cab in 2003 to provide crews in Iraq with increased protection from enemy fire. More recently, BAE Systems designed and assembled the Caiman MRAP, providing in record time advanced protection for our deployed forces. The more adaptable Long Term Armor Strategy (LTAS) cab, currently in production, was developed over a three year period in cooperation with the Army. LTAS allows crews to vary their protection level by adding or removing appliqué armor to the cab. The FMTV has a 94 percent operational readiness rate while operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.
21 May 09. The U.S. Army will split its Future Combat Systems into three orders, one each for ground vehicles, software and technology upgrades, the service’s top military acquisition officer told Congress today. Details on the $159bn program’s restructuring will be announced in a “matter of days,” Lieutenant General Ross Thompson, the military deputy to the Army’s acquisition secretary, told a panel of the House Armed Services committee. Ashton Carter, the Pentagon’s top weapons-purchasing official, still must approve the plan, he said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said April 6 that he would terminate the $87bn vehicles component of the Future Combat Systems that’s managed by Chicago-based Boeing Co. and SAIC Inc. of San Diego. Gates said he was “troubled” that the contract allowed the companies to receive incentives before work was completed. The cost to cancel the vehicle contract and restructure the program could be “hundreds of millions of dollars,” Thompson told the committee. The Army’s 2010 budget has about $1 billion for the vehicle portion of Future Combat Systems, said Representative Neil Abercrombie, the panel’s chairman and