Be sure to check out first impressions from the annual Association of the U.S. Army Winter Symposium on the unveiling of BAE Systems/Navistar’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle prototype.
Our friends at Aviation Week have an army of reporters down there (oh, darn…in Ft. Lauderdale in February) covering the latest in Army equipment. You all know I’m a big fan of the JLTV and I’m glad it was saved from the budgetary axe due to some sober minds prevailing over MRAP buys.
And be sure to check out the promotional video of the truck below…One criticism: why the flat undercarriage?
– Christian
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Team America World police F* yea!
ha!
Seriously though.. wouldn’t a higher ground clearance be good for driving through a jungle anyways?
I know its only 1 of the features that make MRAPs more survivable. But a flat bottom displays the lack of ‘learned lessons’.
Is there a requirement that they be air drop able?
The article says they played a Rage Against the Machine song to intro the vehicle. I find that incredibly amusing. :D
We are BAE not BEA.
My bad Lew…editing error…fixed now.
A non-flat bottom (ie mrap style) is basically a terrible design except in the case of an explosion directly under the vehicle right? Otherwise flat is better. It is lighter and gives a lower center of gravity (which means faster and better handling). The only good thing about the non-flat bottom is the survivability of a direct under-carriage explosion.
Given the point of the vehicle is to be light and fast, maybe they were aiming for light and fast. Not every vehicle made has to be able to survive Iraqi streets. That after all is what the MRAP is for.
Seriously though.. wouldn’t a higher ground clearance be good for driving through a jungle anyways?
i was thinking the same…..
oh wait with president obama we wont need a good military hell just hope it goes away while he changes into some new pants
last
durka durka jihad! jihad!
Re: Flat Bottom
If you look closely at the video you can see what looks like storage compartments under the doors. Do those extend all the way under the vehicle?
If not then the passenger compartment could have a V shape, with the lockers being outside the blast resistant portion of the vehicle that holds the passengers and crew. That would still provide some protection from blast while both providing extra storage and lowering the COG.
I was looking at the video of the vehicle driving about, and noticed that above all four wheels is an unarmored section about a foot tall that has behind it (completely uncovered) what look to be key elements of the mechanism to drive and operate the machine. Considering that soldiers will most likely be in MANY firefights with this vehicle, wouldn’t you want to protect parts of the vehicle relating to the functional operation of the machine? It looks like a very large target, and if shrapnel or bullets were to strike those easy-to-hit component, would that endanger the car’s occupants? Would it stop the car from functioning? Would steering be gone?
This vehicle also doesn’t have a V-shaped bottom. Insurgents of the future won’t just forget that American losses were greatest against IEDs. And lets face it, we won’t be fighting Russia or China, so let us keep the focus a bit more on small wars rather than large, HIGHLY unlikely ones.
MRAP requirements for a vehicle are for other theatres of war or phase or battle. It is dspecifically designed for non-linear types of war other than conventional types of war. MRAP’s are huge in terms of weight and dimensions and therefore a huge logistical burden in first phases of warfare. where you need to get equipement fast to the theatre. Imho this vehicle is on the big side as well and the question of it being air movable is a legitimate one. On the other hand it is supposed to replace the HMMV which is also a bit too bulky to be true air movable in large quantities.
Anyone know how this thing is supposed to compare to a Humvee?
Any thread going to start on Hugo Chavez threatening war with Colombia? he wants to try out his new Su-27s. NOW THIS IS TAILOR MADE FOR OUR F-22s!!!! Now we’ll find out how they’ll perform against each other. Yesssss,bring it on!!!!!!
It looks like a good design.
But even for the size and function they are going for, why no turret?
Where is the offensive capability?
I just do not want us to have to go to war, get a lot of guys killed before they bow to the obvious and put a swiveling turret with gunner protection on them.
You know, like the Humvee…..
-Dennis,
Remember that this is a prototype.
In the information at this link,
(As Brian2020 posted)
BAE says that the vehicle has an active defense system apparently resembling a shotgun. I have no clue what that really entails, but they seem to have it figured out to dissemble RPGs before they hit.
As for offense, something like this should receive a remotely-operated turret… or two! Adds some weight and possibly height, but aren’t gunners the most vulnerable?
Also, Deus Ex,
The wheel-wells are very open, yes. That was one of the first things I noticed as well. The reason for this is to maintain that “air mobility.”
By being “height adjustable” it can be lowered for shipping (must be under a certain, specific height) then after that can be raised to better suspension and distance the vehicle from ground explosives.
maybe if it came with a folding plate that fit there… as long as it doesn’t interfere with what it protects.
Like allot of other MRAPS, they deviated from the original requirements list. Optimally they should have One M2.50 cal MG on the roof. And a MK1940mm grenade launcher. Plus if possible. A Fifty aft facing. For Convoy support. Or combinations of the three. The whole MRAP program is a watering down of a program that had good ideas. Then it went crazy.
Originally it had a design for a active hitch. A hitch that could suck up and marry a lunette eye trailer to a pintle hitch. Handy. Well one on the contractors said,”HuH”?. So you won’t get it.
Almost everyone of the JLTV designs has a giant bottom, IED speaking. Like the BAE a big vacuum cleaner mouth bottom. Sure it looks veed. But every inch of flat area adds to overpressure from side or bottom blast. I could comment more on their creation. Old technology. Static design.
Hard to modify, difficult to change. Good luck BAE.
Armor Kit Specs:
Armor kits: The JLTV will have two armor kits: the A-kit and a B-kit (which adds additional protection to the A-kit).[12] Although the actual armor levels are a classified annex of the JLTV Purchase Description, an RFI (Request For Information) was released in January 2006 which in the interests of market research into the current state of the art requested the following protection levels:
A Kit
KE threat: STANAG 4569 Level 1 (7.62 mm 360 degrees, 30 m)
Artillery: STANAG 4569 Level 1 (155 mm HE at 100 m)
Mine blast/IED (center line): STANAG Level 3 (6 kg (Threshhold) 8 kg (objective)).
B Kit
KE threat: STANAG 4569 Level 3 (T); Level 4 (O) (7.62 mm AP to 14.5 mm AP)
Artillery: STANAG 4569 Level 3 (T); Level 4 (O) (155 mm HE at 60 m, 155 HE at 30 m)
Mine blast/IED (center line): STANAG Level 4a (O) (10 kg)
RPG: (O) Defeat or defend against all or partial types of RPG warheads (3) 360-degree armor protection of personnel against known threats including KE, IED, mine, and RPG (O) when up-armored with B-Kit.[14]
Between the Federation of the American Scientists and wikipedia you can find almost all the specs.
All JLTV designs suck! They are static overpriced over rated designs. Another opportunity to rip off the taxpayers. The whole program was designed to be a showcase of model procurement. I don’t care what TACOM tries to do. TACOM/AMC is corrupt and their contractors are corrupt to the core. The Department of Defense knows of other superior designs. Between
the contractors, TACOM/AMC, and the Pentagon. These
three groups steer contracts to their friends where the most monetary benefit can be derived from any transaction. Ask yourself why the armored Humvees cost so much or took so long to get armored. The jack asses at Humvee wanted to sue other armored contractors to have exclusive rights to do the work. Regardless of the impact to the solders. These are the types of people your dealing with. Heartless greedy bastards.
Burn in hell JLTV. The Mighty Militor design will prevail. The one you want to bury! Go USA!