MILITARY VEHICLE NEWS
————————————————————————-
Web Page sponsored by MILLBROOK
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 Millbrookâs remarkable facilities for demonstrations and exhibitions.
Tel: +44 (0) 1525 408408
www.millbrook.co.uk/military
——————————————————————
11 Jun 09. DRS Technologies, Inc. received a ninth delivery order valued at more than $22m to produce more than 300 M989A1 Heavy Expanded Mobility Ammunition Trailers (HEMATs) for the U.S. Army. The order was received from the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren, Michigan. Work for this award will be accomplished at DRS Sustainment Systems, Inc.’s (DRS-SSI) heavy manufacturing facility in West Plains, Missouri. The primary mission use of the HEMAT is to transport Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) pods, conventional ammunition and other equipment on paved, secondary or cross-country roads. A high-mobility trailer with a payload capacity of 11 tons, the system has been essential to Operation Iraqi Freedom logistics operations.
“The DRS-built HEMAT system has proved its value time and again in the Southwest Asia theater as an extremely stable platform to transport MLRS pods, and as a versatile conveyance for fuel bladders and other vital cargo loads,” said Thomas G. Cornwell, vice president and general manager at DRS-SSI. “This key transport system continues to demonstrate reliability, durability and versatility under extremely harsh conditions, ensuring continuous readiness for military operations.”
11 Jun 09. DRS Technologies, Inc. announced that it was awarded a $28m contract modification to complete the Chassis Modernization Embedded Diagnostic System (CMED) for the M2A3 Bradley. The contract was awarded by BAE Systems, the U.S. subsidiary of BAE Systems plc. The work for this contract will be performed by the company’s DRS Test & Energy Management (DRS-TEM) unit in Huntsville, Alabama and installed at BAE Systems’ production facility in York, Pennsylvania. The CMED system is a digital diagnostic system that detects, reports and communicates critical component level information of any faults on the vehicle’s electronics and reports them real-time to the crew displays.
“By delivering real-time diagnostics results, the CMED helps increase the
Bradley’s reliability, thus lowering the operational and maintenance costs during its life cycle,” said Jerry Sinn, president of DRS Tactical Systems Group. “This award confirms (DRS-TEM) as a premier provider of embedded diagnostic systems for the U.S. Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle.”
18 Jun 09. Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation is on target to complete 10,000 miles of on- and off-road durability testing of its MRAP All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) at the Nevada Automotive Test Center, further proving the vehicle’s endurance through extended operations in challenging environments. Oshkosh Defense has already performed more than 7,500 miles of independent testing using its own time and resources to ensure the vehicle would be ready for operations on Afghanistan’s harsh terrain and to identify any possible enhancements that could be made. Rigorous testing is part of the Oshkosh standard process to make certain its vehicles are ready to withstand the demanding environments in which they operate. “This is a significant milestone tha