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11 Oct 18. Cameroon’s BIR takes delivery of Panthera T6 vehicles. The Cameroonian military has received new Panthera T6 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from Minerva Special Purpose Vehicles (MSPV), sources in the Cameroonian Defence Forces (CDF) confirmed to Jane’s. A Cameroonian military source said the new vehicles were delivered to the elite Rapid Intervention Battalions (BIR) for use in urban environments as part of Operation ‘Chacal’ (Jackal): the BIR’s counter-insurgency deployment in the southwest and northwest regions. Photographs posted on social media in September showed two Panthera T6s with protected weapon stations being unloaded from shipping containers under the supervision of BIR officers, but it is likely the total number is higher. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 Oct 18. First VT4 vehicles now in service. On Thursday, October 11th, the 12th Régiment de Cuirassiers received the first two vehicles of the VT4 program, during a ceremony organized in Satory at the SIMMT, the Army structure in charge of the maintenance of all Land equipment. The ceremony, which was presided by Major General Charles BEAUDOUIN, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, in charge of Plans and Programs. This program, launched in December 2016 by the Minister of Defence during his visit at ARQUUS’ maintenance facility (and logistics center) in Fourchambault (Nièvre), covers 3,700 vehicles. Manufacturing started in December 2017 in ARQUUS’ plant in Saint-Nazaire.
The VT4 program, which led to a partnership with Ford, has ARQUUS militarize a 4×4 civilian base, by adding more than 250 new references in the fields of mobility (suspension, brakes), ergonomics and integration of military equipment.
This concept combines the comfort and security of modern vehicles and the mobility and sturdiness needed for military operations. These vehicles will benefit from an innovative support, entirely integrated by ARQUUS. The first 500 vehicles of Standard 1 are currently being delivered to the Army since October 1st. Tier 2 of the VT4 program was signed on September 7th by the DGA (French DNA). It will cover 1,200 vehicles, with 350 more new modifications, to be delivered in 2019. As for industrial impact, this order helped boosting the ARQUUS plant in Saint-Nazaire, which now employs more than 200 people.
10 Oct 18. The US Army’s future tank may not be a tank. The Army’s future tank may not be a tank, Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, who is in charge of combat vehicle modernization, told Defense News in an interview at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual show. While the M1 Abrams tank still has life in it yet, the Army is starting to begin the thinking and planning process for a future tank, “which is really exciting because it might not be a tank,” Coffman said. “It is decisive lethality and what that decisive lethality is will be determined by academia, our science and technology community within the Army and industry.”
The Army will choose a path in 2023 on how it plans to replace the Abrams and some of the ideas cropping up in discussions have been “everything from a ray gun to a Star Wars-like four-legged creature that shoots lasers,” Coffman said, “but the reality is that everything is on the table.
“We have to get away from these paradigms that we created that decisive lethality must come from a tank,” Coffman said. “It may be a tank in the end and that would be great, but we need choices for our soldiers, so we can really move into a position of lethal advantage over the enemy.”
Coffman is spearheading that effort along with some more near-term plans to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle with an Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle and bring online the Army’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) and a light tank called the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) system.
The one-star is in charge of the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team housed under the Army Futures Command tasked to modernize the force. While the Bradley has a need for relatively immediate replacement because of its power limitations that simply prevent it from being able to accomodate effective upgrades, the Abrams is going through an upgrade program now. The Army began accepting the M1A2 System Enhancement Package Version 3 — or M1A2 SEP V3 — from General Dynamics Land Systems a year ago. The service expects to begin fielding the version in fiscal year 2020. The main intent of the upgrade is to buy back size, weight, and power lost during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the Army focused on protective measures for the tank. The upgrade also includes a modernized architecture. The modernized architecture allows for the inclusion of an ethernet connection that enhances processing within the tank to accommodate an updated fire control system that will allow users to engage targets more quickly. The Army is also installing an ammunition data link that will allow the tank itself to talk to the new smart rounds it is fielding in order to optimize the effect of those rounds. The variant rolling off the production line essentially primes the pump for the integration of future technology and improved lethality because of the new architecture and restoration of power to the vehicle.
The next round of upgrades — the M1A2 SEP V4 — will fall in on the tail end of the M1A2 SEP V3 production that is focused on increasing lethality of the system. The Army just awarded GDLS a contract over a year ago to develop the M1A2 SEP V4. The service will make a production decision in fiscal year 2023 and hopes to field to the first brigade in 2025.
The keystone technology is the incorporation of the third generation Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera. (Source: glstrade.com/Defense News)
10 Oct 18. Further light shed on US Army’s NGCV programme. Key Points:
- The director of the US Army’s NGCV effort gave further details of the programme at AUSA
- The show also saw three NGCV contenders displayed at the show
Further light was shed on the US Army’s Next-Generation Combat Vehicles (NGCV) effort at this year’s Association of the US Army (AUSA) symposium, held in Washington, DC, on 8–10 October, with army leadership briefing on the overall programme and teams from industry exhibiting candidate concepts for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle replacement aspect of the programme. Briefing an audience at AUSA on 9 October, Brigadier General Ross Coffman, the director of Army Futures Command’s NGCV cross-functional team (CFT), explained that the programme would cover a family of five vehicles, of which the “number one” priority would be the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV): the Bradley replacement. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
10 Oct 18. GM develops next-generation ZH2 hydrogen fuel cell-powered truck. General Motors (GM) has developed a new ‘ZH2’ hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric truck, with a next-generation engine and a Chevrolet Silverado chassis. The original ZH2 was based on a Chevrolet Colorado truck that had its front and rear changed to improve off-road mobility and host the power-generation and cooling systems. That fuel cell technology dated to 2007, GM officials told Jane’s. The Colorado ZH2 was trialled by the army’s Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) over the past two years to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel cell technology in ground vehicles would be stable enough for possible military use. The truck’s hydrogen fuel storage tank was shot with 7.62 mm standard, incendiary, and armour-piercing rounds. It was penetrated with a rocket-propelled grenade round but did not explode, GM officials told Jane’s after the tests, because hydrogen explosions are difficult to sustain and hence relatively safe. The ZH2 is capable of outputting 25kW of continuous power and showed potential for users to capture the excess water that is a byproduct of the fuel cell’s output.
The Silverado ZH2 is now also to be tested by TARDEC, Charlie Freese, executive director of GM’s Global Fuel Cell Business, told Jane’s at the annual Association of the US Army (AUSA) exhibition held from 8 to 10 October in Washington, DC. The Silverado ZH2 can output up to 100kW of power and host much heavier payloads, Freese said. The newer fuel cell technology and platform enable GM to keep all the systems under or within the vehicle’s cab and within its chassis – unlike the first-generation Colorado ZH2, the rear of the platform is open to be used as a flatbed space or configured like a typical pickup truck. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
10 Oct 18. US Army secretary upbeat about BAE System challenges. US Army leadership downplayed concerns about BAE System’s ability to produce ground combat vehicles simultaneously for the service and the US Marine Corps (USMC). In a new report to the White House, ‘Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States’, an Interagency Task Force found that “gaps” in the ground vehicle arena reduces the Pentagon’s ability to maintain a forward military presence required to “deter and defeat any adversary”. More specifically, the report cited wrought aluminium plate production capacity, the ability to manufacture gun barrels, howitzer barrels, and mortar tubes, as well as a “capacity shortfall” to meet future armoured brigade combat team goals. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 Oct 18. Aussie engineering in export deal with Malaysian Armed Forces. Volvo Group Australia has dispatched a shipment of specialised military vehicles to Malaysia, launching what it hopes will be a new export initiative for the company, for Queensland and for Australia. In a world-first export deal for Volvo in Australia, the team at the company’s headquarters in Wacol, Brisbane, took two years to plan and adapt the two civilian Volvo FMX trucks to meet the highly specific requirements of military heavy recovery vehicles.
Vice president of state and federal sales at Volvo Group Australia, Jon Mclean, described the export as significant for Australian engineering and manufacturing, with the potential to be just the start of a new line of defence exports for Australia.
“These vehicles are like nothing ever before produced here in Australia,” Mclean said.
Designed to operate off-road in demanding operational conditions, they can lift and tow the full range of military vehicles weighing up to 30 tonnes.
Mclean and his team recently put the vehicles through their paces at testing facilities in Brisbane, before preparing them for shipping to Malaysia.
“Volvo has a reputation in the truck industry around the world for its stringent testing, and I’m pleased to say these vehicles more than met these standards,” Mclean explained.
Volvo Group Australia is strategically placed to support the Commonwealth government’s Defence Export Strategy, which aims to position Australia as one of the world’s top 10 defence exporters by 2028.
Currently, Australia’s defence exports total between $1.5bn and $2.5bn annually.
Mclean said, “The government’s strategy identifies four priority market groups for defence exports and we are well-positioned to contribute to this growth, particularly in the Pacific region.”
The Volvo FMX is designed to be the ultimate truck for rough terrain. Its chassis has been designed to withstand the most demanding of driving conditions. And it’s been built to carry the heaviest loads. The robustness of the Volvo FMX makes military logistics assignments easier, safer and more resource- and cost-effective. It’s easily adapted to suit an individual mission’s requirements, and laden with innovative features.
Volvo Group Australia is responsible for Mack, Renault, UD and Volvo truck brands within Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and the south Pacific islands. (Source: Defence Connect)
09 Oct 18. Amarok For Norway. Norwegian Homeland Security – the reserve for the armed forces – will receive 360 Volkswagen Amarok unprotected transport and liaison vehicles. The procurement authority NDMA has agreed with the Norwegian importer Harald A. Møller in a framework agreement with an initial term of three years for up to 700 vehicles to supply a first batch of 360 vehicles for the equivalent price of €45m. The Amarok will be converted in the Netherlands to meet the needs of the armed forces and will have a fixed-cover compartment. EMC protection, brackets for weapons and communication equipment, camouflage lights and a 24-volt system are further features of the military version of the vehicle. The engine is a 100 kW Euro 3 diesel engine that can be operated with F34. The first 152 vehicles will be delivered in the second half of 2019. The remainder will follow by mid-2020. (Source: ESD Spotlight)
09 Oct 18. Kongsberg and Milrem Robotics Showcase a Robotic Antitank and HMG system at AUSA. The Titan unmanned ground vehicle by robotic warfare systems developer Milrem Robotics with the PROTECTOR remote weapon station by Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace is exhibited at this year’s AUSA trade show in Washington DC. The system on display is equipped with a 50.cal and a Javelin missile launcher providing excellent combination of heavy machinegun and antitank capabilities to warfighters. Just a month before this week’s exhibition the system was showcased in a live fire demonstration conducted near Kongsberg’s headquarters in Norway. Further testing and demonstrations, including Javelin firing are planned for the near-future.
“Milrem’s tracked UGV has proven itself to be an ideal platform for various weapon systems integration,” said Kuldar Vaarsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics. The UGV has previously passed live fire tests with FN Herstal’s deFNder Medium RWS, ST Kinetics ADDER and Aselsan’s SARP. An anti-tank system with MBDA’s IMPACT (Integrated MMP Precision Attack Combat Turret) system is also in development, thus the Titan/THeMIS is the most sought after platform by weapon systems developers.
”Equipping unmanned and robotic platforms with weapon systems enhances the safety of warfighters and keeps them from harm’s way. These systems will always have a human operator controlling the weapon thus eliminating the concern about “killer robots”,” added Vaarsi.
With approximately 15,000 systems already in service across the U.S. DoD, Kongsberg’s CROWS weapon station-family is uniquely positioned to support UGV weaponization, either as an applique solution or in a ground-up design.
Eskild Aas, Director Digital Vehicle Solutions at Kongsberg stated: “Many of the control capabilities already being delivered to the U.S. (for CROWS) support a relatively straight forward and low-risk UGV integration for our weapon stations.” He went on to say: “We are obviously quite excited to continue our work with Milrem Robotics and believe further demonstrations of this system will help the user-community understand what is possible for a robotic platform.”(Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
09 Oct 18. Alcon promote Brake-By-Wire (BBW) technology to the US market in concert with AUSA 18. Alcon Components Limited, globally-acclaimed specialist in the development and manufacture of braking and clutch systems, are promoting their state-of-the-art developments in brake-by-wire (BBW) technology to coincide with AUSA 2018.
Commensurate with Alcon’s commitment to be at the forefront of emerging technology, the company has been developing fully active braking systems to meet advances in Autonomous Vehicle Technology. They have engaged with top-flight motorsport and aeronautical suppliers, along with specialist contractors to enter the market with the AAC01 BBW System, offering cutting-edge technology and performance. Alcon’s AAC01 is a lightweight, off-the shelf, high-performance BBW system that features a failsafe design for passive braking in event of system failure; dual-channel pedal & calliper pressure measurement; and a Pedal Compliance Chamber Port for customer pedal-feel tuning. In addition to the AAC01, Alcon have a number of advanced products under development and always welcome the opportunity to work on bespoke projects for a wide range of customers; from high-end motorsports to challenging military developments.
World-wide, a number of key Defence agencies, including the US Army, are working on Autonomous Vehicle Technology, with research projects looking into BBW technologies for both standard and emergency braking systems. Current US research is looking at the development of a safety-critical, urgent stop system that can be incorporated into current and future ‘drive-by-wire’ technology across varying Army platforms. In line with this, Alcon’s existing BBW system has the inherent functionality to be up-scaled from high-performance motorsport to heavy-armoured platforms, as well as being robust in both its operation and function. Alcon’s extensive experience of working in the international defence sector attests to their ability to develop bespoke components to meet harsh and demanding battlefield environments. As such they are also working on incorporating provisions to meet critical military EMC and environmental requirements and standards, amongst others.
Alcon have a dedicated US team to service their ever-growing customer base in the USA, and to be on hand for any state-side enquiries
Jonathan Edwards, Group Sales Director at Alcon said: “we’re already well-established in the global defence market with our conventional hydraulic braking systems having been fitted to a wide range of military and security platforms. To now offer our forward reaching brake-by-wire technology to the emerging autonomous vehicle technology sector in defense is something we’re very excited about”. He added: “our engineering pedigree in these technology areas allows us to deliver the very best, cutting-edge products and services to help develop future military capability; ultimately, protecting the soldier and saving lives”.
08 Oct 18. Air defence Stryker takes next step. Modernising air and missile defence is one of the US Army’s top six modernisation priorities, and one key element of that is rebuilding a frontline short-range air defence (SHORAD) capability that protects a manoeuvre force on operations from low-flying threats including UAVs.
In June this year, Leonardo DRS was downselected to provide a mission equipment package for the service’s accelerated Initial Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) effort. This package includes a turret – developed by Moog – with a variety of kinetic effectors as well as onboard radar arrays.
The US Marine Corps is also likely to leverage this effort for its own SHORAD requirements.
An industry source confirmed to Shephard that contracts were now in place, including with Stryker manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems to integrate the turret, mission system package and radars.
Up to nine prototypes of the new vehicle are expected to be complete by the spring of next year, followed by testing and, if successful, the start of serial production of over a hundred platforms by the end of 2019 or early 2020.
Moog will showcase the IM-SHORAD turret solution at this year’s AUSA exhibition in Washington DC, known as the Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform (RIwP). Moog boasts that the turret has more than 125 weapon configurations to meet a variety of emerging threats on the battlefield.
The specific turret on display at AUSA 2018 will be equipped with a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems M230LF 30mm chain gun, a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, a Stinger four pack launcher and Hellfire four pack launcher. Electro-optic sensor technology will be provided by the Wescam (MX-GCS), which will allow stabilised long-range detection, recognition and identification along with target-tracking capabilities.
The IM-SHORAD vehicle will also feature four distributed Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (MHR) arrays from Israeli manufacturer RADA, giving the platform the ability to detect a variety of targets including UAVs and rotary wing platforms. (Source: Shephard)
08 Oct 18. General Dynamics swoops in with 50mm-equipped Griffin. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has unveiled its new Griffin III technology demonstrator, which the company is hoping will help the US Army inform future requirements for the service’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle.
Making its debut at the AUSA 2018 exhibition in Washington DC, the vehicle is based on an ASCOD chassis and incorporates a newly-developed autoloading turret with a 50mm cannon developed by the US Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center.
The vehicle builds on work already carried out by GDLS on the US Army’s Mobile Protected Firepower programme, where the company is offering the Griffin II. The second iteration of the Griffin platform features a modified Abrams turret with a 105mm gun.
The Griffin III on display at AUSA would be able to accommodate up to six soldiers and, depending on developments in areas such as artificial intelligence, could be operated by a crew of just two.
According to Mike Peck, the director of BD at GDLS, the turret design including the width and height has been heavily influenced by the large developmental 50mm gun.
The turret is the same width as the vehicle itself, owing to the large dimensions of the ammunition, while the height of the vehicle is increased to enable the barrel to elevate up to +85 degrees. The barrel can also drop to -20 degrees in elevation.
Peck told Shephard firing trials of the gun and turret would likely take place next summer, although not on a vehicle chassis. Design of the turret has taken around a year and a half, and if necessary can incorporate an already-qualified 30mm gun if required.
This, according to Peck, offers the US Army a growth path to larger weapon systems when their development is finalised.
The vehicle’s gross vehicle weight is ‘a little less than 40t’, although this is without additional armour, added according to Peck.
The platform on display at AUSA also featured an Iron Fist Active Protection System, along with a unique hexagonal camouflage called Tacticam from Armorworks that is designed to reduce a vehicle’s signature. Other features of the turret includes cannisters for loitering munitions, as well as advanced optics in the form of Wescam’s MX-GCS.
Vehicle situational awareness and protection are also improved through the integration of an all-round vision system and laser warning sensors.
05 Oct 18. Endeavor Robotics readies Kobra UGV for DARPA SubT.’ Endeavor Robotics announced on 1 October that it had been downselected for Phase 1 of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) Subterranean (SubT) Challenge. The initial USD1.5m that has been awarded by DARPA for Phase 1 will be used to develop a ‘system of systems’ technology solution to operate in underground environments. Endeavor Robotics will lead a team – comprising Neya Systems, Ghost Robotics, and Persistent Systems, LLC – to compete for a USD2m prize fund. Teams in the Systems category will develop and demonstrate their physical systems in real-world environments.
“DARPA announced this challenge at the beginning of the year and really the requirements of it are so challenging that not a single robot solution can perform the task.” Dave Weatherwax, director of software engineering at Endeavor Robotics, told Jane’s . “In the subterranean environment we have to deal with things like vertical shafts, cliffs, wet areas, confined areas – we really felt that a system of systems approach was the most viable solution.”
Endeavor’s approach will see it integrate the firm’s robot platforms with the latest autonomy, robotics, and communications technologies from its partners. For this project, Endeavor has chosen the 227 kg Kobra unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). The Kobra is capable of operating for up to 10 hours and will act as a mothership for other smaller UGVs, such as the FirstLook, which can be deployed in confined spaces.
“The Kobra will be used to map out the larger spaces and then for areas like a vertical shaft, there is no way that a ground vehicle can map out that terrain, so we are going to have a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] that can deploy off of the Kobra to map out those spaces,” added Weatherwax. Neya Systems will be providing the UAV solution as well as associated 3D mapping techniques while Endeavor develops the object recognition capabilities. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
07 Oct 18. Oshkosh robot trucks could roll out to the Army by 2020. Simple subtraction explains the impetus for self-driven supply convoys: For every autonomously driven vehicle, that’s one fewer human driver needed, and likely one or two fewer human escorts in the vehicle itself. Fewer humans means fewer injuries and deaths whenever the convoy encounters violence, like an ambush or an improvised explosive device.
Then there is multiplication: Take the driver and the escorts out of each truck in a seven-truck convoy, and that’s suddenly 14 to 21 soldiers that can do other tasks, like escorting the convoys in other, better-armored vehicles, ones that can withstand IEDs or provide more protection from small arms fire.
In June, the U.S. Army awarded Oshkosh Defense $49m to integrate autonomous technology with the Palletized Load System vehicles in order to put robotics in the driver’s seat.
“It actually drives very, very human,” says John Beck, senior chief engineer for unmanned systems at Oshkosh. “The motion control algorithms that are done both on the by-wire side and on the autonomy side drive this vehicle much like a person does.”
Oshkosh is one of three companies producing interrelated kits as part of the U.S. Army’s Expedient Leader Follower program, which aims to add several sets of autonomous features to the existing Palletized Load System vehicles. Oshkosh’s kit is the by-wire active safety kit, which links the driving controls to the other tools. Autonomous features come from a kit produced by Robotics Research, which adds the sensors and software that tell the vehicles what to do. DCS built the war-fighter machine interface, which includes a touch screen and lets people control the vehicles.
In the summer, Oshkosh started integration of the system on 10 trucks, with the goal of sending them to the government for qualification and safety testing in early 2019. Also in early 2019, the company plans to integrate the system on 60 more vehicles so they can be sent to the government for an operational task demonstration in 2020, at the latest.
The by-wire active safety kit is custom designed to the model of vehicle and is integrated to the vehicle’s systems. These include the engine, the transmission, the brakes, the steering and more, with redundancies to provide full operational capability when there’s nobody behind the wheel. Other features are ones associated with modern cars, like forward-collision warning, lane-departure warning, lane centering, backup warning and more.
Those features are enabled by an array of sensors, from traditional automotive radars for forward-collision warning to proximity detection for blind-spot detection and backup warnings. There’s a camera system that provides pedestrian detection and sign recognition. The forward camera is fused with the forward radar to give the latter better confidence in detecting a vehicle. Additional cameras in the kit provide a sort of surround-view system, with a backup camera and left, right and forward-looking views, as well as a bird’s-eye view for providing situational awareness while maneuvering.
“I have a lot of young soldiers that had been driving cars that do about everything for them,” said Pat Williams, vice president and general manager for Army and Marine Corps programs at Oshkosh, “and they’re getting out in the middle of these great big vehicles. It just makes sense from a safety perspective that those heavy tactical vehicles should have the same safety features as your own vehicle would have.”
If autonomy is a point of familiarity for young drivers, reducing the number of drivers needed per convoy is a major aim of the Army in the project. The Expedient Leader Follower program features not just robotic assistance for human drivers, it also enables uncrewed vehicles to autonomously follow directly behind another cargo truck. There’s even a high-resolution camera for teleoperation, though for now the remote operator remains nearby, rather than ensconced in a building far from the action.
“This is all local communication,” said Beck, “on an ad hoc network using full 256-bit encryption. That’s one layer of cybersecurity that can be managed.”
Removing the drivers from the vehicles does not mean handing control of the cargo truck over to anyone who can get inside the cabin. Sensors in the seat mean that when set in robotic mode, the cargo truck can tell if the people inside are supposed to be there. For the most part, this means allowing intended human occupants to take over driving if need be, but it can also work to prevent unauthorized humans from entering an empty cabin and attempting to take over the vehicle. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/C4ISR & Networks)
08 Oct 18. Harris Corporation’s T7 Robot Achieves Major Milestone; Passes Qualification Testing for UK MOD EOD Program.
Highlights:
- T7 completes rigorous qualification testing and is ready for U.K. MOD user testing
- Integrates new capabilities to advance the state-of-the-art in robotics for EOD missions
- Well positioned for global heavy EOD robot market, including US Army CRS-H program
Harris Corporation’s (NYSE:HRS) T7 robot has passed a rigorous series of qualification tests, proving its capability and reliability in all expected environmental and electromagnetic conditions. The T7 robot was selected by the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) to provide operators with advanced explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) capabilities for its Project STARTER program and is slated to complete user trials later this year. The announcement was made during the Annual Meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) being held October 8-10 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. The Harris T7 robot incorporates cutting edge technologies such as haptic feedback to give it human-like manipulation, allowing the user to feel what the robot feels and an intuitive “fly the gripper” control system which reduces mission duration and training time. The T7 robot also provides unprecedented performance and reliability in austere environments.
“T7’s selection by the UK MOD represents the first of many opportunities for Harris to deliver lifesaving technology to warfighters and law enforcement personnel worldwide,” said Ed Zoiss, president, Harris Electronic Systems. “Having now passed an all-encompassing battery of tests – including extreme temperatures, blowing sand and rain, humidity, vibration, and electromagnetic interference – T7 is ready to help keep service members and first responders out of harm’s way.”
Harris robotic solutions, including T7, are built to handle a wide range of missions, including EOD; improvised explosive device (IED) defeat; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) defeat; and hazardous materials (HAZMAT) clearance. The system’s open architecture easily integrates upgrades, future payloads, and new capabilities including autonomy and advanced ISR sensors. These capabilities make T7 an ideal solution for the worldwide heavy robot market, including the US Army’s Common Robotic System-Heavy (CRS-H) robot requirement.
08 Oct 18. Oshkosh Defense, LLC, an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) company, debuted the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) A2 variant, as well as showcasing multiple Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) at AUSA. The vehicles will be on display at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. from Monday, October 8th through Wednesday, October 10th, 2018.
The Oshkosh FMTV A2 will be on display for the first time at AUSA 2018. Oshkosh was awarded the FMTV A2 contract in February 2018, following the Army’s competitive request for proposal (RFP) for an upgraded platform with improved payload, underbody protection, ride quality, mobility, engine power, electronics, diagnostics, and safety enhancements.
“Oshkosh Defense is proud to debut the FMTV A2 at AUSA 2018. We took a great truck and made it even better with greater force protection, improved payload, a smoother ride, and better mobility,” said John Bryant, President of Oshkosh Defense and Executive Vice President of Oshkosh Corporation. “We are honored that the U.S. Army selected Oshkosh as the winner of the FMTV A2 production contract earlier this year.”
The FMTV A2 fleet of vehicles will be comprised of 16 models, allowing it to perform a wide range of duties from supporting combat missions, to relief efforts, to logistics and supply operations.
In addition to the FMTV A2, three fully integrated JLTVs will also be found on the AUSA show floor. The JLTV on display in the Oshkosh Defense booth will be outfitted with the Kongsberg Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) with the Javelin Integration Kit (JIK) and .50 Caliber Machine Gun.
A second JLTV will be integrated with the Kongsberg PROTECTOR II Remote Weapon System (RWS) with a XM914 Lightweight 30mm Cannon, the JIK, and a 7.62 coax machine gun and will be on display in the Kongsberg booth #239. The third JLTV on display will be in the IMI Systems booth #3125 featuring the Iron Fist Active Protection System (APS).
“Oshkosh has an exciting few months coming up with the JLTV program,” Bryant continued. “First, we expect a Full Rate Production (FRP) decision in early FY19. At that time, we will substantially ramp up our JLTV production. Following the FRP decision, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps will begin fielding JLTVs. We look forward to getting these vehicles into the hands of our service members.”
08 Oct 18. Raytheon, Rheinmetall join forces for US Army’s Next-Gen Combat Vehicle competition, Team will offer American-made Lynx vehicle enhanced with Raytheon technology. Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and Rheinmetall Defence have joined forces to meet the U.S. Army’s requirement for the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle-Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle program.
The global industry team will offer the new Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle paired with Raytheon weapons, sensors and system integration expertise to provide the Army with an advanced, modular, survivable and lethal solution with unmatched growth potential.
Scheduled for fielding in 2026, the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle will be optimized for urban combat and rural terrain. The Army has named the NGCV as a top modernization priority supported under the service’s new Futures Command structure.
“We fully understand the Army’s need to quickly modernize its aging family of combat vehicles. Our team offers a fresh, innovative approach, not business as usual,” said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president.
“Raytheon will equip the new Lynx with the world’s most advanced technology to deliver a modern fighting vehicle that will keep U.S. soldiers far ahead of battlefield threats for decades to come.”
Raytheon technology earmarked for the Lynx could include advanced variants of Raytheon weapons, next-generation thermal sights, the Coyote® unmanned aircraft system and the company’s Active Protection System. Like those systems, the vehicle will be made in America.
Rheinmetall unveiled the latest version of the Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle earlier this year. The new, tracked, armored vehicle is designed to address the critical challenges of the future battlefield, with a focus on growth capacity and lower life-cycle costs.
The Lynx IFV will provide the Army a next-generation lethal, powerful, lifesaving and adaptable fighting vehicle that represents true leap ahead capability compared to legacy vehicles. The Lynx can also be adapted to enable optional manning features, such as remote operation of the vehicle and Lance turret.
“Rheinmetall and Raytheon have worked together successfully for many years on numerous programs,” said Ben Hudson, global head of Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems division. “We are once again combining the best of German and American engineering to provide the U.S. Army with a step change in capability, giving soldiers the overmatch advantage they expect and deserve. Production of the Lynx in the U.S. will enable additional development and sustainment of the world-class American defense industrial base.” The NGCV is expected to replace the Bradley fighting vehicle.
08 Oct 18. Triple-digit million euro contract for Rheinmetall — international customer orders components for manufacturing Fuchs/Fox armoured vehicles. An international customer has ordered components for manufacturing the Fuchs/Fox 2 wheeled armoured vehicle. The order is worth a figure in the three-digit million euro range. Delivery of the components will take place during the 2019-2020 timeframe. This contract has special significance for Rheinmetall’s Kassel plant, birthplace of the battle-tested 6×6 vehicle. To date, some 1,400 Fuchs/Fox vehicles have been built. The armed forces of numerous nations have multiple variants of the vehicle in their inventories, including an armoured personnel carrier, a mobile tactical operations centre, a field ambulance, and an NBC reconnaissance vehicle. The German Bundeswehr has fielded multiple versions ever since 1979, having deployed over 100 Fuchs/Fox 1 vehicles in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Deriving from it, the Fuchs/Fox 2 is an advanced version of the system, featuring (among other things) a larger fighting compartment, a more powerful engine, updated running gear, improved survivability and digital vehicle electronics.
The Bundeswehr is also modernizing part of its Fuchs/Fox 1 fleet. The most advanced version, the Fuchs/Fox 1A8, delivers considerably better protection against landmines and IEDs than its predecessors, coupled with enhanced ballistic protection. Among the principal modifications of the Fuchs/Fox 1A8 are structural changes to the hull, new seating and seat suspension slings in the fighting compartment in order to keep the troops’ feet off the floor, plus reinforced wheel housings, doors and window frames as well as additional storage compartments and a reinforced exterior. In all, Rheinmetall will bring 272 Bundeswehr Fuchs/Fox vehicles up to current 1A8 standard by the end of 2020.
Furthermore, Rheinmetall offers an even more advanced version of the vehicle, the “1A8 Plus”, which has a new drive unit, a new transfer case, a new brake system, an improved steering system as well as monitoring and camera visualization systems. This makes the Fuchs/Fox 1A8 Plus even more manoeuvrable in off-road terrain and considerably easier to handle. These measures will make it possible to keep using the Fuchs/Fox even beyond the year 2030.
07 Oct 18. New Next-Gen Combat Vehicle outfit takes on light tank and personnel carrier. The Army’s new Next-Generation Combat Vehicle’s modernization arm is expanding its scope from prototyping next-generation vehicles and ground robots to also guiding more near-term programs through the procurement process.
The NGCV cross-functional team — which serves under the new Army Futures Command — is taking on the Army’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, which is being manufactured by BAE Systems and just finished its limited user test, as well as the Mobile Protected Firepower capability.
The Army is close to entering a competitive prototyping phase of the MPF program and expects to choose to industry participants to build the vehicles by the end of the year.
The NGCV’s top priority is to competitively develop prototypes to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle with an Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle, but that will be farther afield than both the AMPV program and MPF.
Adding MPF and AMPV to the cross-functional team’s portfolio of projects that seek to modernize the Army to operate across multiple domains in denied and challenging environments against peer adversaries may come as a surprise, since the pair of vehicles are not seen as the futuristic capabilities the Army is looking for when it thinks about where the force will be in 2028, when it expects to be fully modernized.
But the thinking goes, according to Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, the NGCV CFT lead, that the outfit’s involvement helps establish a “whole of Army” approach to developing new vehicles.
“The idea is that as one technology develops, we can look across this plate of vehicles and give each of them the best that they can be,” Coffman said.
”We can’t stop evolving our vehicle fleet, we must roll in new technology,” which goes for both AMPV and MPF, he added.
One industry source theorized that moving AMPV and MPF into the Next-Gen Combat Vehicle portfolio would help shelter the programs from possible budget cuts as Congress and the service look at low-hanging fruit as bill payers for its top six modernization priorities that will build the future force.
Since NGCV is the second priority in Army modernization, anything inside its portfolio is likely more protected from the budget ax.
While the NGCV CFT is focused on near-term programs like MPF, AMPV and a Bradley replacement, it will later develop a robotic combat vehicle and a next-generation main battle tank. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
08 Oct 18. AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems (TMS), today announced a new strategic relationship with General Dynamics Land Systems (GD), the leader in ground combat vehicles, to produce highly integrated and effective tactical UAS and TMS for armored ground combat vehicles.
“By integrating the leading small tactical UAS and loitering missile systems with the leading armored combat vehicles, our team will deliver a new level of battlefield lethality, survivability and combat effectiveness to protect and enable the warfighter,” said Kirk Flittie, vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s UAS business. “This enhanced integration will ensure precise, mobile lethality with increased automation, decreased workload, and fewer operators required for small drone and loitering missile systems deployment. AeroVironment and General Dynamics Land Systems are ready today to equip our warfighters with more lethality tomorrow.”
“The purpose of this partnership is to deliver a decisive advantage to ground combatants, to see first and strike first, across the tactical landscape,” said Don Kotchman, U.S. vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Land Systems. “We’re confident this integrated capability, expanding the warfighter’s situational awareness, survivability and over-the-next-obstacle lethality, will define the market for years to come. This will be done without adding significant burden to the Soldier or vehicle commander’s cognitive or physical workload. The benefits will be had in all environments, including urban, forest, desert or other terrain. This is the right partnership between industry leaders to offer real innovation to our customers.”
AeroVironment and GD’s collaborative projects will address the upcoming U.S. Army Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) programs. The NGCV program will dramatically benefit from automated drone scout and precision loitering missile engagement technology tightly coupled into the GD armored vehicle electronic architecture to rapidly geolocate and, if necessary, finish targets. The ARV project has evolved well beyond a straightforward replacement for the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) into a networked family of manned vehicles, ground robots and drones, collectively capable of not only reconnaissance but also electronic warfare and long-range precision strikes. The vehicle is designed to launch a drone, scout deep, and then deploy precision fire and electronic warfare. It also will have an open architecture design that is upgraded with new technologies as they become available.
The two companies plan to display a proposed integrated prototype system at General Dynamics Land Systems’ AUSA booth #6027 (Exhibit D upstairs) that includes AeroVironment’s Switchblade® loitering missile launched from a Griffin III demonstrator, as well as a Shrike 2 vertical takeoff-landing (VTOL) forward flight system that takes off and lands on the Stryker A1 30mm prototype vehicle. The intent of the joint collaborative efforts is to develop a solution that will include the integration of AeroVironment’s Switchblade and Shrike 2 systems from prototype entrants to the USMC’s Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) program. Both efforts plan to tightly integrate AeroVironment’s systems into the backbone electronic architecture of the GD vehicles.
05 Oct 18. QinetiQ wins two contracts with US Naval Research Office for ARV program. QinetiQ Australia and its UK affiliate have announced two contracts with the US Office of Naval Research to develop its proprietary hub drive unit electric propulsion system and long travel suspension for use in armoured reconnaissance vehicles.
The Office of Naval Research awarded 16 contracts: two of which went to QinetiQ to enable the first phase of development for its electric hub drive unit and long travel suspension technologies. QinetiQ was the only organisation from outside North America to have received contracts.
This effort leverages the electric hub drive development accomplished by QinetiQ under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Ground X Vehicle Technologies (GXV-T) program, and demonstrates how DARPA-funded efforts can transition to higher technology readiness level development for the benefit of the services and the warfighter.
Trent Shackelford, vice president of business development at QinetiQ said, “The demands of warfare continue to evolve rapidly and all fighting forces are looking to technology to deliver the operational advantages of lethality, mobility and survivability to their warfighters.”
Globally, the electric drives market is changing rapidly, and all major original equipment manufacturers in Europe and the US have the development of electric powered next-generation combat vehicles in their plans as the defence sector seeks military operational advantages around enhanced mobility, survivability, manoeuvrability and mission flexibility.
“Our hub drive unit and long travel suspension deliver these advantages by significantly increasing the available internal space inside a combat vehicle, offering vehicle architecture that enables greater protection to its occupants. In addition, the significantly improved performance, flexibility in changing ride height and enhanced amphibious capabilities are critical for improved mobility,” Shackelford explained.
QinetiQ’s long travel suspension concept enables wheel travel of around twice that of a conventional suspension without the need for complex, multi-link systems or configurations used by extreme off-roaders. The innovative concept will enable the vehicle to change mode from a high-ride height IED-resistant standoff stance to rock ‘crawler’ behaviour, and greatly enhances survivability in amphibious operations through improved in-water performance and entry/exit from water.
Shackleford said, “We are extremely proud that an organisation as prestigious as the Office of Naval Research has recognised our expertise and 25-year track record of developing hybrid-electric technology for military vehicles, which will continue to help our customers modernise their fleets and ensure they are operationally ready to face evolving threats now and in the future.”
In July 2016, DARPA announced a US$2.7m investment in QinetiQ’s electric hub-drive technology, to take the technology from a concept design into the building and testing phase, including production of two fully working units. (Source: Defence Connect)
09 Oct 18. JLTV heading to first US Army unit in January 2019, The US Army will begin equipping its first unit with Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) in January 2019 and expects to complete that fielding in March 2019, according to Colonel Shane Fullmer, project manager for JLTV. The first unit is to receive about 350 vehicles, Col Fullmer told reporters on 9 October at the annual Association of the United States Army conference, held from 8 to 10 October in Washington, DC.
A JLTV contract for low-rate initial production of 16,901 vehicles was awarded to Oshkosh in August 2015. The production rate is now at about 15-16 vehicles per day, but Col Fullmer said it could grow to 40 trucks per day if needed. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
08 Oct 18. ARQUUS develops its global network of partners. European leader of land mobility systems, ARQUUS constantly develops its network of partners in order to support its growth and performance. This strategy enables ARQUUS to optimize costs, propose increasingly innovative solutions and create a network of reliable partners from all the fields of expertise and all the regions of the world. ARQUUS has selected a panel of suppliers, specialized in the manufacturing of high-technology subsets, which meet all ISO and AQAP quality standards. All these partner companies bring added value, constantly enriching the quality of ARQUUS’ products. Last June, ARQUUS also signed a service provision agreement with French company NSE. Under this contract, NSE will provide with pool management for all diagnosis tools and connected glasses, which are essential to ARQUUS’ latest support offers, developed both for France and for international clients. The search for new international partners also allows for market share development abroad, by entering new domestic markets. ARQUUS’ partnerships also bring together all partners’ technologies and industrial expertise, to offer excellence. ARQUUS signed a partnership with American company AM General, a leading global mobility solutions provider. Under this agreement, AM General will build the Bastion in the United States and offer it under license from ARQUUS for U.S. Government-funded opportunities. ARQUUS is proud to offer the excellence of its vehicles globally and to develop its positions on the American continent.
ARQUUS provides its partners with a reliable ally offering advanced technology, mastery of complex industrial processes, and high quality, all combined for combat-proven and tested vehicles. Depending on markets and cooperation agreements, ARQUUS can provide with tailored services, ranging from technology transfer to the joint development of new and complete products.
05 Oct 18. The Canadian Department of National Defence recently marked the official delivery of the first Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS) Standard Military Pattern (SMP) trucks from Mack Defense during a ceremony at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, in Petawawa, Ontario.
Canadian Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan and other senior departmental officers were on hand to receive the trucks, as well as to discuss the impact of the MSVS SMP contract in terms of job creation and economic distribution. David Hartzell, president of Mack Defense, and Alan Gauthier, MSVS SMP program manager of Mack Defense, attended the ceremony to commemorate the delivery.
Mack Defense is contracted to deliver more than 1,500 8×8 trucks, as well as an initial five years of In-Service Support (ISS) for the SMP fleet operating in Canada and throughout the world. The trucks include multiple variants such as cargo, material handling cranes, load handling systems (LHS) and mobile repair trucks (MRT). To produce the trucks, Mack Defense is working with key strategic Canadian partners including Prevost; Dumur Industries Ltd; EODC, Inc.; and Link Suspensions of Canada (Raydan Division). MSVS SMP assembly takes place in Prevost’s Sainte-Claire, Quebec, plant. The Volvo Group’s global supply chain, with a strong presence across Canada and in 42 other countries worldwide, serves as the foundation of the In-Service Support program.
08 Oct 18. Replacing the Bradley is the top priority for the Army’s next-gen combat vehicle modernization team. Why not upgrade the Bradley? And what could its replacement look like?
The modernization team tasked with advancing the Army’s next-generation combat vehicles is focused, as its top priority, on replacing the Bradley Fighting Vehicle with an Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle, according to the team’s leader, Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman.
The OMFV is meant to “provide options to commanders in combat, so it’s a decision to, manned or unmanned, gain contact with the enemy, and that can be visual or through firepower, and it actually provides options to commanders so that they can use the best way to accomplish their mission,” Coffman said in an interview with Defense News shortly before the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting.
The Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team — established as part of the Army’s new Futures Command — tackles the service’s second highest priority out of six major lines of effort that are intended to fully modernize the force by 2028.
The CFT has had many conversations with industry to determine what’s possible. The team has laid out what it thinks will be the requirements for the vehicle, Coffman said, including aspects like an optionally manned capability, loading it on a C-17 aircraft, protection elements and lethality.
Even though the Army plans to rapidly prototype and procure the OMFV, Coffman said the team will continue to roll new technologies in through constant experimentation, in parallel with OMFV procurement, so that the first OMFV that comes out and gets fielded is constantly improved.
The Army will roll those improvements into manufacturing “so that we can always maintain the current technology on these vehicles,” he said.
The Army is requesting that designs have lots of room for upgrades and to add in new technology.
“We know technology will continue to move at the pace it is today or faster, and it is going to allow us to have enough physical space and computing power as well as propulsion power that, if we want to add things to these vehicles, we have the ability to build them [to be] the best they can be,” Coffman said.
Jumping right in, the service plans to release a request for proposals, not just a draft, by the end of the year, Coffman said.
It is anticipated that the proposals will be due in May next year, and then the Army will downselect to two competitors who will build 14 prototypes in an engineering and manufacturing development phase in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, according to industry sources.
For more coverage from the AUSA annual meeting, click here.
Coffman said he hoped to cast a wide net with industry, including looking to partners around the world for solutions.
“We want them to bring us their best, and we will evaluate and downselect to some number and do a procurement contract at the end of the final evaluation,” he said.
To accommodate for the OMFV effort and the other lines of development within the CFT’s portfolio, the Army has downgraded its prototype activity within the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center.
A year ago, the Army had kicked off a major prototyping effort to develop what the service was calling its NGCV by awarding an industry team a contract to build two demonstrators by fiscal year 2022.
The Army awarded a seven-year, $700m contract to a team consisting of SAIC — the team lead — as well as Lockheed Martin, Moog Inc., GS Engineering Inc., Hodges Transportation Inc. and Roush Industries.
Jim Scanlon, senior vice president and general manager of SAIC’s Defense Systems Group, told Defense News in a recent interview that while the initial plan was to build prototypes, the strategy has evolved. Now, the team is working on sub-system experimentation for TARDEC using Bradley assets, to test capabilities such as mobility systems and manned-unmanned teaming.
SAIC, according to Scanlon, sees the Mobile Protected Firepower solution it is hoping to prototype for the Army as possessing technological capabilities that will serve as “hooks” — or a pathway — to fulfilling OMFV requirements.
Other companies are likely to emerge with offerings for OMFV, including General Dynamics Land Systems, AM General and BAE Systems.
BAE Systems brought its CV90 fighting vehicle, developed for the Swedish army, to AUSA. The Netherlands, Finland and Denmark are also customers of the vehicle. According to BAE, it brought the CV90 to the show as a starting point to discuss possible options for the NGCV program.
Raytheon and Rheinmetall announced at the AUSA conference Oct. 8 that they are partnering to provide Rheinmetall’s Lynx combat vehicle as its submission to the impending OMFV competition. (Source: Defense News)
09 Oct 18. BAE Systems reveals modernised M88A3 ARV prototype. BAE Systems has unveiled a prototype of an upgraded M88A3 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift and Evacuation System (Hercules) that is intended to be able to handle the heavier weights of modern main battle tanks (MBTs). The M1A2 Abrams MBT System Enhancement Package version 2 (SEPv2) has a combat weight of approximately 74 tons, while the Abrams SEPv3 will increase the combat weight even further by 5 tons, according to the Pentagon’s Department of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) 2017 annual report. In a February ‘notice of intent’, the army estimated that, “with all force protection kits applied, the weight of the M1A2 is tracking approximately 80 [tons]”.
The M88A2 “is currently unable to safely perform single vehicle recovery [SVR] of the Abrams tank due to incremental weight increases of the Abrams over the years,” according to the DOT&E 2017 annual report.
To remedy this, the army is pursuing an engineering change proposal (ECP) for the M88A2 so the vehicles can again perform an SVR on the heaviest Abrams tanks. This is planned to include improvements to the M88A2’s powertrain, suspension, and track. It could also improve the vehicle’s speed, hoisting and winching capacity, survivability, and reliability.
BAE Systems has been working via internal funding on an M88A3 demonstrator for about two years, Jim Miller, the company’s director of business development for combat vehicles, told Jane’s.
The demonstrator is an upgraded M88A2 with a seventh road wheel to help alleviate ground pressure and new hydropneumatic suspension units (HSUs) that enable the track to be locked out, Miller said. The M88A2 requires a soldier or marine to exit the vehicle and use objects (typically wood blocks) to lock out the track. The intent is to upgrade existing M88A2s to the A3 configuration.
BAE Systems is recommending that the vehicle’s air-cooled engine be replaced with a commercially available, liquid-cooled, 1,300 hp caterpillar diesel engine; its transmission would be replaced with a modified Abrams tanks transmission. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
————————————————————————-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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