At a ceremony this morning in the South Korean capital, the country’s Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon watched the unveiling of Hanwha’s 42-tonne next generation Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the Redback. Built by industrial giant Hanwha, the Redback has been shortlisted for the Army’s $15 billion competition for around 450 vehicles, which will replace Vietnam era M113 armoured personnel carriers. The other contender is the Rheinmetall Lynx.Story here.
The first vehicle was completed about one month ago and has now been shown in public for the first time after a series of company maneuverability trials. This IFV plus another two will be shipped to Australia in one year from now for further tests to be conducted by the Army and the Defence Science and Technology Group for the phase of the competition known as the Risk Mitigation Activity.
The drill sergeant at the U.S. Army Signal School at Fort Gordon, Georgia and former Marine asked the Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston to consider creating additional, combat-focused training like the three-week MCT course all new Marines go to after boot camp during a forum at the 2019 Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.Story here.
"What is the possibility of bringing something like Marine Combat Training into the force to build up that lethality within the soft-skilled [military occupational specialties] and not just the infantry and combat arms?" Broadhead asked. "After Boot Camp, they go to three weeks of infantry training then they go on to their MOS training."
Grinston appeared surprised by the question. "Yeah, we are not going to do that, probably," he said, prompting a few chuckles from the audience.
The company behind the Humvee is looking to take the Gladiator into battle.
The Jeep Gladiator Extreme Military-Grade Truck Concept comes from the cooperation between AM General, maker of the Humvee, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as the idea for a new light tactical vehicle. The current version imagines the pickup as functioning for military communications work, but AM General could develop variants to meet a customer's specific needs, including as a transporter or for command and control duties. The rig makes its debut at the Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Association of the U.S. Army.
"This new venture gives us an opportunity to showcase our expertise in light tactical vehicles and help FCA maximize the Gladiator's global reach and potentially enter new military markets," AM General President and CEO Andy Hove said about the concept in the truck's announcement.
AM General doesn't provide much detail about what it does to make the Gladiator XMT ready to fight. The firm only says that it adds "custom-built and commercially available military-grade parts" to improve the Jeep's capability. The company would offer it with gasoline and diesel engine options.
AM General is clear that this concept only exists to gauge customer interest and gather feedback for now. Until a client arrives to commission a production version, don't expect to see these Jeeps on the battlefield. The company could be ready to put this military-grade Gladiator as soon as the second half of 2020 if the orders come.
While not a military-grade truck, there are spy shots suggesting that Jeep is developing a high-performance Gladiator called the Hercules. It features a heavily revised hood for covering the higher-output engine. Rumors suggest the powerplant's output is around 500 horsepower (373 kilowatts).
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| U.S. Marine Corps Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV), belonging to Second Marine Division (2d MARDIV), are staged in a motor pool lot at Camp Wilson, Marine Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Oct. 6, 2019. The AAVs will be utilized in 2d MARDIV’s execution of MAGTF Warfighting Exercise (MWX) 1-20, from mid-October through early November. MWX is set to be the largest operation conducted by 2d MARDIV in several decades. |
