28 Oct 04. Denny Dillinger and his team gave BATTLESPACE an update on its vehicle activities during the 2004 AUSAS show. Dillinger said that since the inception of the FMTV truck concept, following the contract win in 1995 new variants are being developed and new features added. From 2004-8 the FMTV A1R will be introduced with features such as improved reliability, an X-Van variant, new Armor variants (See contract Award below), IED level 1-4, a composite cargo bed and air conditioning. From 2007-9 the FMTV A2 will include features such as a mild hybrid version, using the DRS Technologies compact system shown on the stand, S-LHE, prognostics; 2 Level maintenance; EPA 2007 Compliant; improved fuel economy; GCSS Army (SATCOM); active suspension supplied by Northrop Grumman, Canada, now L-3; Driver Vision Enhanced (DVE); task offloading robots; weight reduced armor. From 2009-2015 the FMTV A2 Block 2 will have: Intelligent Agent Prognostics; EPA 2010 compliant; FCLAAS; complete situational awareness; signature management; leader-follower robotics; optimized fuel economy; optimized maintenance radio. The company continues to deliver on-time and on schedule with an average of 14 trucks per day with 52 consecutive months of on-time truck and trailer deliveries.
The trucks in Iraq received a number of accolades with regard to service and support success such as “The truck went places where only goats had gone before,” SGM Chad Anderson 3rd SFG.
Regis Luther gave an in-depth brief as to the companies continuing development of armored cab technology. The kit cab announced at AUSA Florida has now been replaced with the FMTV LSAC cab built into the vehicle on the production line. This cab is lighter than its predecessor (See BATTLESPACE UPDATE Vol.6 ISSUE 9, March 8th 2004, STEWART & STEVENSON SHOW NEW ARMORED CAB). The cab provides protection up to 7.62 AP, mine protection that exceeds 12-16 lbs, C-130 transportability, interchangeability with existing cab in a 4 hour operation and RAM-D test status completed at ATC. The first order for the cab is covered below (See CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF, ‘Stewart & Stevenson awarded armored cab contract’). As a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) the company has developed a substantial reset business upgrading and repairing trucks delivered back from theater at Fort Hood. This covers not only 1000 FMTV trucks but also 400 Oshkosh HEMMTTS valued at $19.3m and involves 250 personnel. Also at Sealy the company is resetting to ‘like-new’ standard 200 FMTVs valued at $17m
Stewart & Stevenson won a $2m development contract for the Maneuver Sustainment Vehicle (MSV) on September 28th 2004 as part of the FTTS ACTD requirement. This requires eight months of modeling and simulation effort to develop a 13-ton capacity vehicle design with a curb weight desired of 13 tons. A Critical design Review will take place in June 2005 and a down-select to one prototype from S&S or Oshkosh announced in July 2005 for delivery by May 2006. Military Utility Assessment (MUA) to be held from may to December 2006. S&S believes that it is well positioned with the 6×6 11-ton variant as shown on its stand with a curb weight of 11 tons which could be easily increased to 13 tones 8×8 with 2600 lb curb weight.
The company is also bidding the UV requirement for vehicles upwards of 1 tonne using its expertise on the Daimler Chrysler G-Wagen, designated BR-461, for which the company has the US franchise and as Skip Tierno, the newly appointed Product Manager told BATTLESPACE was just the start of a developing relationship between the two companies. S&S has already sold 120 vehicles to the US Marines. Lockheed Martin is also bidding for UV with its recently acquired HMT licence from HMT in the UK (See BATTLESPACE ALERT Vol.6 ISSUE 16, LOCKHEED MARTIN ENTERS NORTH AMERICAN TRUCK MARKET). S&S is developing a new capability in trucks from 1 tonne upwards.