Military units experiment with ultralight vehicles.

To provide increased mobility and agility during combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other remote and rugged locations, some U.S. military units ate trying out a variety of vehicles that are much smaller and lighter than traditional platforms.

These ultralight vehicles, as they sometimes are called, range from all-terrain vehicles and modified golf carts to a new generation of battery-powered bicycles and motorcycles. The ultralights will never replace standard humvees and trucks, officials concede, but they can assist infantry operating in places that are out of reach to heavier vehicles.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, Army airborne, Marine Corps and special operations units deployed the M-Gator, the military version of a utility vehicle originally designed for use on golf courses.

The M-Gator--made by the John Deere Company, of Moline, Ill.--is a topless vehicle with six wheels and no windshield. About three feet high, five feet wide and 10 inches off the ground, it has two front seats and can haul up to 1,400 pounds of cargo. It has an 18 hp engine that runs on diesel fuel and can reach speeds of 18 mph.

That may seem puny, compared to a humvee, which is twice as high, carries dame times as much weight and has a 150 hp engine, capable of up to 65 mph.

A critical advantage for the M-Gator, however, is its weight, said Dan Smith, the vehicle's program manager at John Deere. The M-Gator weighs 1,450 pounds, compared to 3.8 tons for a humvee, he said.

With the M-Gator's small size and weight, "you can put two M-Gators and 20 troopers on a [CVH-47] Chinook [helicopter]," Smith said. "You can put one humvee on a Chinook, but it takes forever to get it on and off. It's a very tight fit."

The M-Gator also can be air-dropped from a C-130 [transport aircraft]," he said.

During Operation Anaconda, one of the fiercest battles in the Afghanistan campaign, M-Gators were quite useful, said Col. Frank Wiercinski, who commanded the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade in that engagement. "Quite honestly," he told National Defense, "they were like a godsend at that altitude and in that rugged environment."

On the steep, snowy mountainsides of eastern Afghanistan, "slinging larger vehicles [by helicopter] under fire would have been very difficult," said Wiercinski, who is now chief of regional special operations, at the J-3 operations directorate of the Joint Staff in the Pentagon.

Troopers used the M-Gators to move ammunition, fuel and casualties, Wiercinski said. "We mounted weapons systems--.50 cal. machine guns and Mark 19s (automatic grenade launchers)--on them," he said.

When Tires Fall Off

"They weren't moving very fast, and they weren't carrying a lot of things," Wiercinski said. "But they were invaluable. We drove them until the tires fell off, and then, we drove them on the rims," he said.

It was no accident, Smith said, that the M-gators kept on moving, even though the tires wore out. "They're designed to run up to 50 miles with flatures," he said.

M-Gators are not standard equipment for U.S. ground combat units. The Army is drawing up an operational requirements document for something like the M-Gator called the light utility mobility enhancement system, of LUMES. The M-Gator and similar vehicles could meet those requirements, Smith said.

Funding for LUMES, however, won't be available until 2005, at the earliest. In the meantime, many light infantry units like the M-Gator so much that they are buying them on their own. More than 1,000 have been sold since 2000, when they were first fielded at Fort Bragg, N.C., Smith said.

U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., citing the M-Gator's "great success in Afghanistan," added $4.1 million to the fiscal year 2003 budget to buy more of them for units at Fort Campbell, Ky. Fort Campbell is home to the 101st, the 5th Special Forces Group and the 160th Special Operations Regiment.

The Army also is using all-terrain vehicles made by Polaris Industries Inc., of Medina, Minn. Nearly 100 Polaris ATVs have been shipped overseas for military use since the September 11 attacks, said Bennett Morgan, general manager of the company's ATV division.

At 950 pounds, the 4x4 Polaris Sportsman MV is considerably fighter than the M-Gator, and it can move at speeds in excess of 45 mph, Morgan said. It caries a load of 600 pounds, and it can help evacuate casualties.

Some Army Special Forces, Air Force Special Operations and Navy Special Warfare units ate evaluating a platform called the Prowler, which is made by the All Terrain Vehicle Corporation, of Orange, Calif. The firm's president, Amos Deacon, said he couldn't discuss which units have bought the vehicle or where it is being used.

The Prowler weighs 795 pounds and is capable of 65 mph, according to Deacon. It can fit inside a wide variety of military helicopters, and it comes in ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and special weapons configurations, he said.

The Prowler has a fully automatic transmission, which means "you can operate it with one hand," Deacon said. The vehicle has a suspension system that can be adjusted to handle a payload of more than half a ton, "but there will be tradeoffs against speed and range when you load it up," he warned. For example, he said, "it probably won't still run at 65 mph in four-wheel drive."

ATVs are often criticized for their loud noise, but the Prowler "is a very quiet vehicle," Deacon asserted. It operates at "83 decibels, compared with 78 decibels for your standard Chevy," he said.

Batter-Powered Bike

Military units that are interested in truly lightweight, quiet vehicles are taking a look a a novel family of battery-powered platforms being developed by TidalForce, a division of Wave-Crest Laboratories LLC, of Dulles, Va.

TklalForce is marketing a battery-powered bicycle designed specifically for military and law enforcement use. The M-313 ShockTrooper looks much like a rugged, 21-speed mountain bike, but it has a 36-volt battery built into its front hub and a 1,000-watt motor in its rear hub, explained Chris Washburn, the firm's vice president for light transport.

The battery and motor ate part of WaveCrest's Adaptive Motor technology, an innovative in-wheel system that delivers increased power and efficiency, Washburn told National Defense. The motor is controlled by a microprocessor, he said. It has no gears or brushes.

"The M-313 has a maximum speed of 30 mph and a range of up to 30 miles," Washburn said. The rider can supplement the power of the motor by pedaling and use the bike's manual gears, he said. The bike can carry a gross payload of 350 pounds. Optional trailers in a variety of configurations can hold another 200 pounds.

The ShockTrooper weighs between 64 and 81 pounds, depending upon its configuration. "Folded, it fits very easily in the back of a humvee," Washburn said. "It also can be airdropped. A paratrooper can jump with it."

The M-313 can be equipped with a second battery, and it can be custom-fitted with such options as compass, bell, head and brake lights, turn signals, cruise control, kickstand, rear rack, saddle bags on each side and a converted ammunition can to carry extra batteries.

Buyers can choose flora a selection of tires and seats to fit specific missions and human torsos. Bikes have quick-release switches, enabling riders to readjust of even change seats and wheels.

"If you have a flat tire, you don't have to patch it," said bicycle technician Kirk Allen. "You can change the whole wheel in three minutes."

A short trip on the bike reveals that its battery-powered motor is very quiet. "All you hear is the sound of the tire on the mad," said project manager Bill Ebert. "If you want to make noise--so people can hear you coming--you need to add a bell or a horn."

The bike is useful for reconnaissance, surveillance, patrolling, courier service, Washburn said. Although he won't be specific, Washburn notes that sales have been made to law enforcement agencies, private security firms and military services, including special operations units. In fact, during one visit, a number of the bikes in the TidalForce factory were painted black--a favorite special operations color--for possible nighttime maneuvers,

Tidal Force also is developing a battery-powered motorcycle for potential military use. In April, it delivered a proof-of-concept prototype to the Army's National Automotive Center in Warren, Mich., for testing.

The prototype is based on the Kawasaki KZ 125, equipped with a 23 hp, battery-powered motor, Ebert said. "It offers speed, power and silence," he said. It's a stealth motorcyle. It's very, very quiet, and it's fast. Theoretically, it will do 60 mph. It also can pull a small trailer, filled with ammunition, fuel or supplies."

Another TidalForce project is a hybrid ATV, which pairs a stock 8 hp Honda gasoline-powered engine with tour electric motors. A prototype will go 35 mph, Ebert said. "Once the vehicle is running, you can turn off the gas engine and go stealth," he said.

Eventually, TidalForce and its patent company, WaveCrest hope to develop an entire family of battery and hybrid powered vehicles, including standard-size cars and trucks, Washburn said.

The Marines, meanwhile, aren't waiting for the development of new technology. Individual units have been trying out various ultralight vehicles on their own, according to Capt. Chris Doyle, ultralight transportation systems team leader for Marine Corps Systems Command, in Quantico, Va.

For example, he said, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., took two M-Gators to Afghanistan. Before they could go, the M-Gators "had to be modified a little bit to make them more secure" when tied down inside a moving CH-53, Doyle said.

The Marine Corps also is updating one of its oldest ultralight vehicles--the traditional motorcycle--Doyle said. The Marines have used motorcycles for decades for reconnaissance, patrols, courier service and law enforcement. Now, the service is converting its 500 military M1030B1 motorcycles--Kawasaki KLR 650s--to run on diesel fuel.

Hayes Diversified Technologies, of Hesperia, Calif., has received a $2.2 million contract to replace the motorcycles' gasoline engines with diesel ones.

"We may be the first service to do that," Doyle said. The motorcycle diesel engine is "a breakthrough," Doyle said. The Hayes engine has proven to have the same power and performance as the gasoline-powered engine."

Final testing of the new engine will take place this summer at the Nevada Automotive Test Center, Doyle said. if all goes well, he said, replacements will begin in the fall.