TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
We have one for tanks we have one for IFV's and APC's I figure one for Hummers, Jeeps and buggies would fit the bill to. The Aim is not large heavy trucks, or MRAPS ( The latter would be APC's). but light military vehicles in the ATV-light truck class.
Speaking of which here is a neat one.
Speaking of which here is a neat one.
82nd Airborne Tries Ultralight Vehicles
By Joe Gould5:58 p.m. EDT April 22, 2015
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WASHINGTON — The Army's 82nd Airborne Division is evaluating an ultra-lightweight combat vehicle (ULCV), a new effort that would allow airborne assault troops to drop far from objectives that are protected by air defense, then speed over land to capture them — and Congress has taken notice.
The House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee proposal for the National Defense Authorization Act requires the secretary of the Army to brief the HASC by March 1, 2016, on the ongoing effort. The Army is looking to address a request from the 82nd Airborne Division, and it has already purchased 33 commercial vehicles for proof-of-principle tests.
Whether the Army buys more vehicles depends on tests conducted by the 82nd. Soldiers have evaluated the Polaris MRZR-4, dubbed the light tactical all-terrain vehicle (LTATV), for increased mobility during airfield seizure operations, and the vehicle would provide a rifle company with an air-droppable maneuver and small arms platform.
The 82nd has posted pictures of soldiers in 2nd Brigade Combat Team, driving the Polaris MRZR 4, through a "familiarization course" on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in January; driving in a snowy forest at Fort Pickett, Virginia, in February; and at its Combined Joint Operational Access Exercise, earlier this month.
The 82nd's plan calls for it to buy commercial off-the-shelf vehicles in the mid-term and establish a formal acquisition program in the long term.
The Army issued a questionnaire on April 10 through a government procurement website, asking industry about the ULCV, envisioned as an off-road vehicle that would carry a nine-soldier squad, and be air-droppable from a C-17 or C-130. It would be carried internally and externally by a CH-47 Chinook and externally by a UH-60 Black Hawk.
Officials with the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, said in January that they were seeking approval for a plan to choose from readily available vehicles and field about 300 of them to the service's global response force, in essence the 82nd. Once the program is established, a vendor could be selected and a vehicle fielded in 2016, they said.
Heidi Shyu, the Army's chief weapons buyer, said on Wednesday that the effort was in "early discussions" and that an acquisition strategy and detailed analysis had yet to arrive at her desk.
"This is what the requirements community sees for early entry, what they need to get on the ground and have mobility right now," she said. "Right now the early entry guys are walking, so they would like that mobility."
A team of paratroopers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, conduct training with the brigade’s new Light Tactical All Terrain Vehicle on Fort Pickett, Va., Feb. 26. (Photo: US Army)
Michael Clow, strategic communication lead for the Army Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, said in a statement April 15 that specific quantities, funding, a program timeline and finalized requirements for a potential ULCV acquisition remain under consideration, and no final decisions have been made.
"The survey's purpose is to begin informing the acquisition community about the availability and characteristics of commercial products, potentially challenging requirements, and the capabilities of equipment manufacturers in order to inform any future potential ULCV acquisition decisions or strategies," Clow said.
Polaris, whose core business is recreational vehicles, has several ATVs modified for military operations. It unveiled its first purpose-built military vehicle last year, the DAGOR, which can transport a nine-person infantry squad or carry 3,250 pounds.
The Army last summer held a demonstration at Fort Bragg in which six companies showed vehicles: GD's Flyer; the Boeing-MSI Defense Phantom Badger; Polaris Defense's deployable advanced ground off-road DAGOR; Hendrick Dynamics' Commando Jeep; Vyper Adamas' Viper; and Lockheed Martin's High Versatility Tactical Vehicle, which is a version of the UK Army's HMT-400 Jackal.
In October, the 82nd announced that the 2nd Brigade's 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment would be the first battalion to exercise and assess the light ATV. The idea was that it would allow the unit to swiftly transport and parachute in, then carry a small amount of supplies and hastily evacuate casualties from the battlefield.
The idea is that paratroopers would be able to quickly mass combat power, said Capt. Marshall Brink, the brigade's plans officer said in October.
"A force that may be defending the [landing strip] gets more time to prepare for the siege of the airfield," he said. "If we have the ability to drop more lightweight vehicles that allow our assaulting force to rapidly reach the objective and establish a foothold, that will improve our chances of success tremendously."
US Special Operations Command announced in March that it is making a sole-source purchase of 2,000 LTATVs from Polaris. The contract, to be awarded in June, includes 1,750 of the MRZR-4 and 300 of its smaller MRZR-2.
