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February 2006

Marines Ponder Options for Future Trucks

By Sandra I. Erwin

The Marine Corps expects to increase purchases of light and medium armored trucks in the months ahead, while it continues to study long-term options for modernizing the fleet.

Of the Corps’ 19,000 Humvees, 1,700 were equipped with add-on armor kits. From now on, however, all Humvees shipped to Iraq will be factory-armored, says Marine Col. Sue Schuler, program manager for tactical wheeled vehicles.

The up-armored Humvees are known as M114s. So far, the Corps has ordered 1,302, Schuler says. With war-emergency supplemental funds, it will procure another 524. Deliveries should be completed by June 2006, she adds.

Trucks headed to the war zone also are being outfitted with safety upgrades that were requested by deployed troops. A case in point is an improved gasoline cap for the two-seater Humvees that have armor kits on the back. Other enhancements, Schuler says, include the addition of ballistic glass in the troop compartments, and a fire-suppression system for the engines.

Possibly in 2007, the Marine Corps will consider moving up to the newer version of the up-armored Humvee, the M1151 and M1152, which the Army plans to begin purchasing next year. The 51/52 variants, unlike the earlier up-armored Humvees, are built with some level of blast protection, but also can receive heavier armor add-on kits if needed. This approach gives commanders more flexibility, Schuler says.

In 2008, the Marine Corps is scheduled to begin replacing the Humvee fleet with a new “combat tactical vehicle.” Several options could be considered, including a commercial-style truck. Also, whatever vehicle is selected must be common with the Army.

“There are some good South African vehicles out there,” says Schuler.

The Army Corps of Engineers and several Army and Marine tactical units have leased South African mine-protected vehicles, some of which are being licensed to be manufactured by U.S. firms. Unlike Humvees equipped with add-on armor, many of the South African vehicles were designed from the ground up to survive mine explosions. Most have V-shaped hulls that deflect blasts.

“We’ll be looking at a lot of cutting-edge technologies to put on that thing, from the bottom up,” she adds, speaking about a future Humvee replacement. “One of the problems you run into with armored vehicles is balancing the protection requirements against maneuverability in a tactical environment.”

The Marines will continue to negotiate with the Army before they both can agree on a common set of performance requirements for their Humvee replacements. “I think we are coming to some closure,” says Schuler. “We are working some things out with the Army … For a vehicle fleet that is that big, it’s just not going to pass the giggle test in Congress for each of us to go in a different direction.”

The Marine Corps, meanwhile, is expanding its fleet of medium tactical trucks, the 7-ton MTVR (medium tactical vehicle replacement). The original plan was to buy 6,393, but the Corps used funds from the 2005 emergency-war appropriation to purchase an additional 832 cargo variants of the MTVR. “The requirement could go up by 1,000 to 1,200 vehicles,” says Schuler. Another upcoming buy is for 130 MTVR tractor variants.

All MTVRs in Iraq are equipped with armor kits, she says.

The heavy haulers, called LVS (logistics vehicle system), soon may be replaced with a new truck. The Corps is evaluating two bids – one from the current manufacturer of the LVS, Oshkosh Truck Corp., and another from American Truck Co. A contract award is expected in June 2006, says Schuler.

When the LVS replacement program was started there were no ballistic requirements, she says. However, the prototypes evaluated at the Army Aberdeen Test Center this summer had to have mine-blast protection in the floorboards.

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