Wednesday 7th July 2004

Jeeps for UK Army?

Chrysler shows off its latest vehicles to the UK military

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A military version of the Jeep Wrangler has had its UK debut at the Defence Vehicle Dynamic show, together with a hybrid-powered version of the Dodge Ram.

The military version of the Wrangler – the Jeep Wrangler TJL – continues the Jeep legend that began in 1941 when the American Army needed a tough and versatile cross-country vehicle. The result was the world’s first purpose built four-wheel drive vehicle – the Willys MB, nicknamed the ‘Jeep’ (and arguements still rage to this day about the origin of that name!).

For the modern military, the Jeep Wrangler TJL has been modified to handle additional payloads with a heavy-duty axle, cargo bay and upgraded suspension. It features seating for eight people and a wheelbase 22 inches longer than the standard civilian vehicle. Power comes from a 4.0-litre six-cylinder petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission, or, for the first time in a Wrangler, the TJL will be available, from 2005, with a four-cylinder 2.8-litre diesel engine.

The Dodge Ram COMBATT 2 Hybrid demonstrator vehicle is a military version of a Dodge Ram 2500 (¾-Ton) full-sized pickup truck. The prototype is powered by a 5.9-litre Cummins TurboDiesel engine together with a PowerGen hybrid system, capable of providing up to 10 kW of exportable 120/240-volt AC 60 Hz power.

Up to 10 kW of 60 Hz AC power is available to power equipment when mains power is unavailable due to site location, natural or man-made disasters, or in combat conditions. The AC power is grid quality and will power industrial equipment, sensitive electronic equipment including computers and TVs, or recreational equipment.

The prototype is also equipped with a purpose-built state-of-the-art hydro-pneumatic suspension system that provides a unique combination of on-road ride and handling comfort with extreme off-road mobility. The suspension enables any single wheel to scale an obstacle up to three feet in height and means that the Dodge Ram COMBATT is capable of negotiating the severest off-road terrain.

[dontlift]

Well lets face it, nowhere to buy british anymore for them is there, so they might as well go yank

[billb]

is this in case theres a war on kings road? hummers yes but them things wouldnt last a second

[squirrelz]

Article said:

The prototype is also equipped with a purpose-built state-of-the-art hydro-pneumatic suspension system that provides a unique combination of on-road ride and handling comfort with extreme off-road mobility. The suspension enables any single wheel to scale an obstacle up to three feet in height and means that the Dodge Ram COMBATT is capable of negotiating the severest off-road terrain.

... soon to be seen on a school run near you

[pbrettle]

...and the British Army complain about the amount of technology that goes into the current Defenders that they have.... things like turbos and ECU's.... christ knows what theyy would think of these things! Not knocking them as they are probably very good, but lets face it, giving them to a bunch of squadies out on exercise, they aint going to last a minute....

[jackthedog]

Hmm. Military vehicles derived from civvie vehicles.

I'll eat my hat if that dodge thing gets used by the British.

There'd be no takers for the jeep either - especially the petrol engined version, i'm sure.

It'd be down to cost. I'll bet a Landy costs less. And it has 3 different chassis lengths and quite a few different body styles. Much more versatile than the jeep.
You can get a lot of different uses out of a common vehicle by using Defenders, which the army love cos it means not having to familiarise themselves with too many different things.

And as for Dodge's 'extreme off-road mobility', why bother when we already use the Pinzgauer, which is gonna get much further than that big bloody thing.

They better be outrageously cheap, cos otherwise i'd be very suprised if either of these ridiculous things even get a serious look in.

[andytk]

Due to standardisation of B vehicles (light non armoured vehicles) in the Army this will never be used by british forces.

Its not so much the cost or capability but its down to the fact that the army are set up logistically to only support one vehicle. And that is the Defender.

Andy

[pawsmcgraw]

andytk said:

Due to standardisation of B vehicles (light non armoured vehicles) in the Army this will never be used by british forces. Its not so much the cost or capability but its down to the fact that the army are set up logistically to only support one vehicle. And that is the Defender. Andy

there are actually quite a few Hummers running in the British forces.They don't look like conventional hummers but i can assure you its all hummer chassis and running gear.There is also a team directly reponsable to support them.

[edgrimly]

Ok... so a Yank is gonna throw in here.
Currently the Brits are using GMC Sieras at BATUS in Canada for training exercises. I tell ya, they are definately noticable next to the standard military fare they are next to.
These are used as safety vehicles and are the replacement to the Land Rovers.
These trucks are driven... hard...
These trucks are in response to the high injury rate from rollovers and so far have been a resounding success.

[andytk]

May have to eat humble pie on this one, but yesterday there was an article in the paper (can't remember which one) about the MOD considering the Euro equivelant (the Merc off roader thing).

This was due to its improved off road capability and increase lift capacity.

I didn't know the British forces were using a disguised Hummer though. Interesting.

Andy

[allanj]

they should be using those Bowler Wildcats (especially for reconisance type stuff)

have a look at this top gear reveiw (broadband)

www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/downloads/wildcat_broadband.ram