MRAP Recovery
Written by Tom Marlowe Wednesday, 13 May 2009 11:49
challenge of retrieving disabled MRAPs.
The MRAP vehicle, like all vehicles, can become disabled, however, when enemy forces overwhelm it or if powerful munitions hit it with enough force under specific conditions. But MRAPs are valuable, and soldiers simply cannot destroy them where they fall. These disabled vehicles then are left for the U.S. Army or Marine Corps to retrieve and rehabilitate or salvage.
But retrieving them has become a logistical challenge, according to various accounts. Towing an MRAP vehicle at present involves several trucks, flatbeds and cranes in a laborious process that itself could put soldiers’ lives at risk if enemy forces are still present.
To meet this challenge, the Army and Marine Corps have combined forces to release specifications for a new MRAP vehicle that would recover other MRAP vehicles. The services released a request for information (RFI) in February with the intent to gain feedback on the concept. The recovery vehicle would retrieve MRAPs weighing from 38,000 to 73,000 pounds, according to the RFI notice.
“It is important to understand that an acquisition strategy has not yet been developed for this requirement, and it has yet to be determined whether the strategy will be a full and open competition or be limited to the five current MRAP original equipment manufacturers,” the RFI stated.
The five MRAP manufacturers include BAE Systems Land & Armaments of Arlington, Va.; Navistar International Corp. of Warrenville, Ill.; Oshkosh Corp. of Oshkosh, Wis.; Force Protection Industries Inc. of Ladson, S.C.; and General Dynamics Corp. of Fairfax, Va. A few of those companies shared their thoughts on the MRAP recovery vehicle with Military Logistics Forum.
SPECIAL VARIANTS
The Army and Marines are not alone in seeking an MRAP recovery vehicle. U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) awarded its own contract for such a thing to BAE Systems, which intends to deliver MRAP recovery vehicles starting this year.
BAE Systems already produces the MRAP RG-33 in both category classes of the vehicle. The company is under contract presently for a total of 2,262 vehicles. Two different variants of RG-33 make up MRAP Category I 4x4 vehicles while seven other variants make up MRAP Category II 6x6 vehicles.
BAE Systems had delivered all but 80 of its contracted vehicles as of press time, said Greg Mole, BAE Systems program manager for mine resistant ambush protected all-terrain vehicles (M-ATV). The company is currently working on delivering variants for USSOCOM to provide Special Forces with a modified 4x4 Category I vehicle.
But BAE Systems also is working on recovery vehicles to offer USSOCOM. The company has developed plans for the MRAP armored utility variant (AUV), an RG-33 6x6 platform that carries four passengers and provides a cargo bed on the back, and the MRAP armored recovery variant (ARV), a towing vehicle used to recover disabled MRAPs. The ARV is equipped with a lift-and-tow device, offering winching as well as craning for complete recovery and lift and tow with the full level of MRAP protection, Mole told MLF.
“The biggest gap in the field right now is that they have recovery systems out there, but they don’t have recovery systems with the same level of protection as the rest of the MRAP fleet,” Mole declared.
So the ARV would fill that gap by entering hostile environments to recover disabled MRAPs, Mole explained. The MRAPs are protected against hostile developments and so must be their recovery vehicles, he reasoned.
The USSOCOM vehicles have not yet been produced, but Mole expected BAE Systems to begin delivery to USSOCOM late in the second quarter of 2009. BAE Systems initially will deliver only two units to USSOCOM for test and evaluation.
“The recovery systems are intended to recover the systems and get them out of harm’s way so they can be reconstituted to fully operational condition. That would primarily be done in theater organically by the service that is the owner of the system,” Mole remarked. “The intent of a recovery vehicle is so that they don’t have to destroy the asset where it is.”
While the USSOCOM requirement is separate and distinct from the Army and Marine Corps requirement, production of the test vehicles could serve to inform the services of potentially sound specifications for MRAP recovery vehicles. MRAP companies also have relied upon their own experiences to conduct market surveys and exploration for MRAP recovery performance specifications, Mole noted. The Department of Defense also recently expanded the MRAP program with the M-ATV, which is the new program Mole heads at BAE Systems. The M-ATV would be a lightweight system with MRAPlevel protection. BAE Systems already has delivered two test vehicles for that competition.
“The M-ATV is a weight class where the end delivered configuration for that vehicle is 20,000 pounds with MRAPlevel protection versus the 60,000–70,000 pounds for the RG-33 systems,” Mole concluded. “It’s representative of the most significant emerging trend among armored vehicles, which is the movement toward a lightweight system for operations in Afghanistan.”
TOUGH TOW TRUCK
Navistar unveiled its MaxxPro Wrecker MRAP vehicle in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on February 25, shortly after the Army and the Marine Corps released their RFI. The MaxxPro Wrecker, a towing vehicle that can haul 81,000 pounds, was designed to target a requirement such as the MRAP recovery vehicle. Navistar also has two additional recovery MRAP utility variants—the MaxxPro Cargo with a platform for ISO containers and the MaxxPro Tractor with the ability to haul trailers.
“Navistar is not mass producing the MaxxPro Wrecker at this time, but is exploring opportunities both in the United States and the United Kingdom,” Elissa Koc, Navistar Defense manager of communications, told MLF. “Currently, the U.S. Army’s request for industry comments asks for a 35-ton wrecker recovery vehicle able to retrieve vehicles weighing between 38,000 and 73,000 pounds. While the Army’s solicitation varies from the vehicle launched in February, our network of 12,000 engineers has proven capable of making rapid vehicle modifications to meet customer needs.”
The combat weight of the MaxxPro Wrecker is roughly 27 tons, short of the 35 tons in the Army specification. Meanwhile, Navistar has been producing a commercial wrecker vehicle for military use and has fielded more than 500 of those commercial wreckers in Iraq and Afghanistan, Koc revealed. But armored recovery vehicles are necessary to help protect soldiers and Marines, just as other MRAP vehicles do, Koc noted.
“The Army is interested in this type of vehicle to help protect those running recovery missions with the same ballistics, mine and IED protection used on all MRAP vehicles currently in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the focus continues to shift to Afghanistan, where the percentage of casualties from IEDs continues to rise, these vehicles will help save lives,” she stated.
Navistar has been the leading producer of MRAP vehicles with more than 6,000 units in theater as of press time out of 6,444 contracted by DoD. Navistar significantly modified its design to produce six variants in 18 months to meet evolving threats, Koc emphasized. The MaxxPro Dash, for example, is a lighter and more mobile MRAP variant designed to better navigate the rough terrain in Afghanistan. The current MaxxPro Wrecker MRAP recovery variant would utilize the company’s Dash cab, found on vehicles such as the MaxxPro Dash, to protect military crewmembers from roadside blasts, Koc said.
Koc reported that Navistar also will compete for the Army’s M-ATV program. As the focus of military operations moves to Afghanistan, M-ATVs would offer a lighter and more mobile option to navigate the rough terrain in that country, Koc said. Contractors expected the Army to make contract awards sometime in May.
Oshkosh also responded to the Army and Marine Corp’s RFI for MRAP recovery vehicles but would not discuss its production vehicle at press time. “Oshkosh responded to the Army’s request for information about our wrecker vehicle capabilities and technologies,” Eddie Garcia, Oshkosh Defense director of marketing, told MLF. “If and when there is a requirement, we will evaluate the customer’s needs and consider the proposal. Oshkosh Defense remains committed, as it has for several decades, to providing the most dependable, durable, well-protected and battle-proven tactical wheeled vehicles.”
MULTI-PURPOSE HAULER
But the Army and the Marine Corps are exploring options other than the armored recovery vehicles for retrieving disabled MRAPs. Boeing has been in preparations for a joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) of a family of trailers it has developed specifically for hauling away MRAPs, Andy Garcia, Boeing Joint Recovery and Distribution System (JRaDS) program manager, told MLF. Nearly five years ago, Boeing began developing the JRaDS trailers commercially. But DoD became interested and awarded Boeing an initial contract to participate in the JCTD.
“JRaDS started out as a logistics and cargo distribution trailer to reduce the amount of materiel-handling equipment required in forward areas. This is basically to reduce closure time in a tactical environment for cargo,” Garcia elaborated.
“During the time we were working that, we were approached by the Marine Corps Joint Program Office to see what the application would be for recovery and evacuation trailer for MRAPs,” he continued. “We worked with them for the last year, and we have a solution for them.”
Although Garcia couldn’t reveal contract details, he confirmed Boeing would provide test and certification units for a trailer capable of providing self-contained recovery and evacuation for up to 80,000 pounds. Boeing initially will provide four test units under the MRAP contract, and numbers for full-scale production were undetermined as of press time.
The MRAP JRaDS trailers, designated as the JRaDS MRAP Recovery Trailer System (MRAP-RTS), is made to hook up to the M-1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter, the largest prime mover in the Army inventory. The M-1070 is the transporter capable of hauling the most weight, but it may also be used to recover lighter MRAP vehicles going into Afghanistan.
“The specific trailer that we are currently building is for the heaviest MRAP configuration,” Garcia commented. “We also have a configuration for which we have completed design for a more tactical environment like in Afghanistan. That trailer has a 60,000- pound capability. It has been developed specifically for an Afghanistan tactical-type theater.”
The 80,000-pound capacity trainer being developed initially is for theaters like Iraq, but the different configuration of a lighter capacity trailer is better suited for Afghanistan, Garcia observed. “In Afghanistan, the roads are smaller and tighter with much more rugged terrain. They need something that is more agile and shorter. They don’t have the larger of the MRAP vehicles there,” he said.
Regardless of the specifics of the terrain, it is important for DoD to recover MRAP vehicles quickly to keep soldiers out of harm’s way as much as possible, Garcia stressed. Boeing’s goal was to make it possible to recover an MRAP with the trailer and the prime mover, hopefully using only four personnel to load the disabled vehicle— even in catastrophic recovery scenarios where the MRAP has lost its tires and fallen onto its side or in a ditch.
That represents a significantly smaller footprint than the cranes, trucks, flatbeds and personnel deployed to retrieve an MRAP today. “We took a different approach,” Garcia stated. “The approach they have today is ‘let’s pick this thing up with a train and put it on a trailer,’ as opposed to what we are trying to do—which is what you see more of in the commercial world, where we drag it up onto the deck. We are using two very high-powered winches and the design features of our trailer to accommodate that. Our trailer also has extreme off-road capability that you don’t find in trailers today.” Boeing has worked closely with the services to understand the best way to solve the problems of recovering MRAPs. Ultimately, that work involves a full understanding of the environment where the trailers will deploy, Garcia said. The trailers represent a game-changing capability that will save lives.
“Our objective is to save soldiers’ lives. Most people don’t understand that,” he asserted. “For every minute that goes by, when these MRAPs are destroyed and sitting there, we have people inside that are trying to get out, and we have people on patrol that are trying to protect that wreckage until we can recover that casualty. Every minute of that time is time that soldiers are at risk. We are trying to minimize that time any way we can to get our soldiers out of harm’s way as fast as possible.”
DIFFERENT PROGRAM, SAME SOLUTION
General Dynamics Land Systems may be on the verge of fielding a recovery system for the Stryker armored vehicle that also could recover an MRAP.
Currently, the U.S. Army deploys several vehicles and a lot of soldiers to retrieve a disabled vehicle. In the case of the Stryker, warfighters deploy an M98 tow vehicle with a large crane and a trailer. But at the end of the day, it takes about eight men and two or three additional vehicles to recover the disabled Stryker. So General Dynamics saw the need to reduce the logistical footprint in the recovery of disabled Strykers and save time and manpower with an all-in-one recovery system. The company has introduced its Stryker maintenance and recovery vehicle (SMRV) and accompanying Stryker lift and recovery trailer to fulfill that need.
To date, the Army has deployed about 16 Tru-Lift vehicles to Iraq to recover disabled Strykers. The vehicles have a long fork that goes under damaged vehicles and lifts them up.
“It’s not necessarily a good fit because many times the vehicles slide off of the fork. It accomplishes the job nine times out of ten but they have some problems with it. It also makes for a very long vehicle, especially when they use their trailer,” said James Vickrey, director of combat systems at General Dynamics Land Systems. “So a [recovery operation] is pretty manpower intensive. Whereas, if you used our Stryker maintenance and recovery vehicle and our trailer, then you would use three people and one vehicle and one trailer and get the whole job done.”
General Dynamics developed the SMRV and the recovery trailer because the company didn’t see anything else available with the capacity to lift a fully or partially damaged vehicle, place it on a trailer, and quickly evacuate it from the battlefield or return it to a repair station, Vickrey said. The company looked at many different devices and trailers to fit the need and found their SMRV system to be the best solution for quick and clean recovery.
At press time, Vickrey anticipated that the Army would soon place an order for about 10 of the systems, noting that a single brigade doesn’t need very many of them to retrieve their fallen vehicles.
And the Army also could use the same systems to retrieve disabled MRAP vehicles. The SMRV and trailer could haul up to 60,000 pounds at present but a bigger one that could haul up to 35 metric tons (up to 70,000 pounds) is in the wings.
“Could it recover MRAP vehicles? Absolutely,” Vickery told MLF. “It makes no difference if they have wheels on them or not. As long as you can get a hook into a lifting eye of some sort, you could pick the vehicle up.”
The recovery trailer also would work in combination with another wrecker vehicle other than the SMRV.
“One of the advantages of this trailer is from the time you pull up to the time you hook up and be gone is probably less than 10 minutes. It’s really a commercial-off-the-shelf piece of equipment that we made some modifications to. They are usually used for 20-40 foot containers,” Vickrey explained. ♦