Advanced Technology Allows New Military Truck To Run As Fast As A Tank Off-Road.Business Editors NOTE TO MEDIA: Photo available on BW PhotoWire/AP PhotoExpress, NewsCom, PressLink and on Business Wire's Web site at www.businesswire.com OSHKOSH, Wis adv. 1. Certainly; really; indeed. v. t. 1. To think; to suppose; to imagine; - used chiefly in the first person sing. present tense, I wis. See the Note under Ywis. .--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2000 If an army is only as fast as its slowest truck, the U.S. Marine Corps became a much faster off-road force beginning today when Oshkosh Truck Oshkosh Truck NYSE: OSK, is a manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for defense, industrial and fire emergency applications. It is based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and employs about 7,000 people worldwide in five countries. Corporation delivered the first of at least 5,666 new 6x6 Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) or 7-Ton, is a six-wheel drive all-terrain vehicle used by the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy. It is designed to replace the old M900 series of tactical trucks, and was first fielded in 1998, after the (MTVR MTVR Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement ) trucks. If the 2,502 option trucks are exercised, the total contract value will be $1.2 billion. The MTVR will replace the Marine Corps' aging fleet of M809 and M939 transport vehicles. But the MTVR is more than a replacement vehicle. It is a major improvement in on-road and off-road mobility, maneuverability, speed and reliability in a medium tactical truck. The truck's capabilities are incredible for a rubber-tired vehicle. It can climb mountains, cross large streams, run over rock-strewn paths or through sand and mud, all the while carrying more cargo at faster speeds than ever before. "It has been tested to the max. The MTVR is the benchmark for modern military tactical truck performance," said Robert Bohn, Oshkosh president and chief executive officer, at ceremonies in Oshkosh at the company's New Product Development Facility. "We started work on the MTVR prototype 10 years ago and began refining independent suspension Independent suspension is a broad term for any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump in the road) independently of each other. because we knew it would define off-road mobility." The new MTVR can run with any ground-based military vehicle in the field, even outdistancing the highly touted U.S. military Humvee. Carrying personnel and supplies for battle, or food and emergency supplies in peacekeeping missions Noun 1. peacekeeping mission - the activity of keeping the peace by military forces (especially when international military forces enforce a truce between hostile groups or nations) peacekeeping, peacekeeping operation , the MTVR will fill the transportation mobility gap created by the older medium-payload vehicles. The MTVR can:
- Ford five feet of water
- Carry a 7-ton payload cross-country and 15 tons on-road
- Climb and descend a 60-percent grade (The big first drop from a
large amusement park rollercoaster goes down a 60-percent grade.)
- Handle a 30-percent side slope with its maximum cross-country
payload
- Travel at 65 mph on paved surfaces
- Speed over 12-inch bumps, or half rounds, at 20 mph
- Cruise for 300 miles on a single tank of fuel
- Be transported in a C-130 airplane
Because the Marines depend greatly on medium tactical trucks, they needed a wheeled vehicle Noun 1. wheeled vehicle - a vehicle that moves on wheels and usually has a container for transporting things or people; "the oldest known wheeled vehicles were found in Sumer and Syria and date from around 3500 BC" axle - a shaft on which a wheel rotates that could keep up with their tracked vehicles, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers, on the shore and over the roughest terrain. The MTVR is replacing trucks that are based on a 1949-1950 Army design. The newest vehicles in their current fleet are over 15 years old. Although the Marine Corps originally considered rebuilding that older vehicle, what Oshkosh is delivering is a new, state-of-the-art truck. The MTVR also features constant all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission. It has an Eaton central tire inflation system that uses sensors and an on-board On board usually means to be traveling on some vehicle. For example, Baby On Board. Compare with overboard. Metaphorically, the term on-board is often used to refer to some piece of technology that is integrated in a moving vehicle, for example: The MTVR features an Oshkosh-designed all-wheel independent suspension capable of 18 inches of vertical wheel travel. (That's comparable to what dune dune, mound or ridge of wind-blown sand formed in arid regions and along coasts. Dunes are common in most of the great deserts of the world. Often a dune begins to form because material is deposited by the wind as it encounters a bush, a rock, or other obstacle to buggies have for off-road races such as the Baja 500.) Also, independent suspension offers better handling on paved pave tr.v. paved, pav·ing, paves 1. To cover with a pavement. 2. To cover uniformly, as if with pavement. 3. To be or compose the pavement of. roads. But off-road, independent suspension provides vastly improved comfort, better traction, more upright stability, higher ground clearance and better suspension durability. In addition, it provides better overall vehicle durability because it filters out high frequency, low-amplitude vibrations that shake vehicle components loose. Oshkosh Truck Corporation is a leading manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for the defense, fire and emergency, concrete placement and refuse hauling markets. Oshkosh Truck is the sole supplier of heavy tactical trucks to the U.S. military. Annual sales are $1.165 billion. |
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