Voice from the Noise: Fast Turnaround : M-ATV to the AF

700 On the Move

Vs-31 CAG Aircraft 700 is shot down the cat of the USS GW Washington, circa 2006. VS-31's final deployment before being decommissioned was onboard the USS Washington. The NG on the tail is the give away. Airwings attached to West coast aircraft Carriers are assigned the lead nemonic of "N" while those on the Atlantic are given "A". The 700 or double nuts aircraft in each aircraft is typically given special paint over and above that customary for a squadron aircraft and is usually offered to the Air Wing Commander. This aircraft is sporting an AWW-13 Weapons Data Link pod on that starboard wing pylon. This pod us used to relay video from an inflight missile (Maverick or SLAM-ER) or controls from the aircraft to the missile. There is an actual joystick at the Co-Pilot station that allows the operator at that station to actually fly the missle while it is in flight.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fast Turnaround : M-ATV to the AF

Here is yet another story of a Defense contractor pulling out all the stops to support the troops in the combat zone while the PresBO is in Copenhagen wheeling and dealing for his thug buddies back in Chicago.

Oshkosh Defense was awarded a 1.05 BILLION dollar contract on June 30^th of this year (that's 2009) for 6,440 All Terrain Version of the MRAP armored vehicle (or M-ATV). These vehicles are desperately needed in Afghanistan because of the rough road system. That is to say the goat paths that are used a roadway system cannot support the very large MRAP's nor can these beasts turn or maneuver in the small villages or mountainous terrain. The M-ATV is much smaller than the normal MRAP closer to the size of a HUMMV however they have the blast protection that cannot be bolted onto the HUMMV (that v-shaped hull that channels any blast under the vehicle outward and away from the passenger compartment).

The fine folks at Oshkosh have just this week shipped the first batch of these vehicles to the AF. If they don't get hijacked on the way there, they should be porting Marines around the badlands later this week. A good deal and a lot of us parents are grateful to those fine folks at Oshkosh for pushing their production into high gear. This equipment is desperately needed; too many of our boy's have been taken out of action by IED's aimed at truck traffic on those miserable roads.

The M-ATV. (Photos by Oshkosh Defense Systems)

Oshkosh will be delivering 300 to 500 each month from now until the end of December. The vehicles will initally be airlifted into the AF with follow-on units gong by sea.

Protecting our troops is necessary in order for them to be around to go to those Olympic Games the President is so hell-bent to get here.

BT: Jimmy T sends

2 comments:

Buck said...: Which all goes to prove there are a few good things coming out of the morass that is defense procurement these days. There IS hope...; October 1, 2009 at 12:54 PM
JimmyT said...: Buck, every now and then it gets done right. When you look back at the MRAP development that went fast too so I was not surprised by this. The surprise was the quantity of 300 to 400 per month. They must have some huge facility somewhere cause they also won another big truck contract also along with continued deliveries of the original MRAP.

BT: Jimmy T sends.; October 1, 2009 at 7:48 PM