QUAD BIKES MOVE UP A GEAR – NEW DEVELOPMENTS FROM ROUSH AND ATV
By Julian Nettlefold, Editor BATTLESPACE
Driven by growing requirements for the use of quad bikes in anew and expanding roles, two companies in particular, Roush and All Terrain Vehicle Corporation have announced exciting new product development.
Roush Europe participated in EuroSatory for the first time, following a period of rapid and sustained growth in its global defence sector business. It continues its strong support for the show at DVD this year. The company is now regarded as one of the world’s leading design, development and engineering organisations – and has quickly earned a cross-industry reputation for its innovative and operational solutions driven capability in the defence, special vehicles and related equipment sectors.
Within Roush’s product designation environment, the company’s growing family of military vehicles can be easily identified by the pre-fixed initials ‘LAS’ (Land/Air Systems). Generic Roush defence products, which also owe their pedigree, design, development or manufacture to the company’s European business, are also branded with the suffix ‘RE’.
At DVD Roush is displaying one of the first full production versions of the Arctic Cat Diesel ATV (Diesel Reconnaissance Vehicle – DRV), for which Roush provides the worldwide defence sales interface.
The DRV variant is the result of a joint-venture development programme between Roush and Arctic Cat and has been designed to fulfil a range of specific military operational requirements, including the achievement of a single battlefield fuel policy. The unit is powered by a twin-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, driving through a Constant Velocity Transmission (CVT), which provides excellent performance and rideability. Fully independent suspension (FIS), adjustable shock absorbers and class leading ground clearance makes the Arctic Cat DRV ideal for military applications.
Rack capacities of 45 kilograms on the front and more than 90 kilograms on the rear allow the unit to carry a wide range of kit and equipment – and the unit can also handle towed gross trailer loads of up to 500 kilograms. The range of planned variants will include fully road-legal homologated units as well as the present two-seater version.
Roush will also display information about its other expanding activities in the sector, including applications engineering and equipment installation programmes, vehicle conversions for covert and special operations – and whole vehicle development programmes. A good example of the latter is the Roush’s highly successful ultra-lightweight all-terrain platform, the LAS-100RE, which has already formally entered operational service with the UK Ministry of Defence.
The first of its type, the 100 Series variant is fully air-portable – and designed and built around a very specific user requirement. The unit achieves a remarkable level of all-terrain mobility and performance – plus a large payload capacity for its size. Its lightweight honeycomb construction offers an unladen weight of around 800 kgs – which provides a payload capability of around 1000 kgs within currently defined operational criteria.
The four-cylinder engine is naturally aspirated and uses mechanical injection to reduce EMC – and final drive is provided through fully automatic transmission. The platform is designed to accommodate a wide variety of demountable bodies and equipment. The LAS-100RE features fully independent front suspension and a ‘walking beam’ rear bogey. Further developments and variants of the design are planned.
Although not exhibiting at this year’s DVD, All Terrain Vehicle Corp’s Prowler range continues to sell in various guises with many applications.
On 15 May All Terrain Vehicle Corporation announced that its Prowler RTV (Rugged Terrain Vehicle) is now available with a third (rear-facing) seat option. The Prowler, introduced in 2002, is an ITV (Internal