Reports from Military Vehicles Expo

In preparation for its Military Vehicles Exhibition & Conference on 10 - 13 July in Detroit, event organizer IDGA has published a number of reports & free resources related to the global land systems market. Included are the following one-pagers:

• Official: Marines Need $3B In OCO Funds For Ground Vehicle Reset 
• Stackley: JLTV Contract Award Expected In Fourth Quarter Of FY-12 
• Army Might Replace One Third Of Medium TWV Fleet With Contractors

Good stuff. Again, go here to download.

Marauder

I've been receiving press releases from South African based Paramount Group about their Marauder vehcile being featured on BBC's Top Gear program. Apparently the Marauder battled it out against a normal HMMWV and survived a staged IED attack. See more on the release here. Good stuff.

Soldier as a System

Last in a short series on PEO Soldier, if nothing else you have to check out the very cool interactive application showing the soldier as a system, in its varied functional forms. 

Power Dilemma

PEO Soldier calls it the Power Dilemma. One of the critical technological challenges underpinning soldier modernization is the requirement for reliable, portable power systems to fuel all the high-tech electronic systems that land forces carry in combat. Some of the solutions currently being deployed and tested by the PM-Ground Soldier program include:

• 300 Watt Propane and Methanol Fuel Cells – provides power to the squad or platoon and can be carried in the Soldier’s rucksack
• XX55 Methanol Fuel Cells – provides power to the individual, team or squad and can be mounted and carried on the IOTV or in an assault pack
• Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System – solar energy power system that provides power to the individual or team and can be carried in the assault pack
• Soldier Power Manager with Solar Blanket – solar powered, energy harvesting power management and distribution system that can be carried in the assault pack

Nocturnal Ownership, Puke Rays

Here is a Danger Room post on technologies being developed by the Directorate of Science and Technology at Special Operations Command. Among the priorities are enhancements to nightime operations such as heat signature cloaking and advanced battlefield sensors, and also more sub-lethal weapons along the lines of tasers and "puke-rays" -- or what is called “extended duration incapacitation."

I also noticed on the SOCOM site that they have their own dedicated soldier tech program, called SOF Warrior, "a portfolio that includes over 83 programs with an investment budget of over $1.1 billion of MFP-11 funds..." Main areas of development are Ammunition & Demolition, Ground Mobility, Individual Equipment, Weapons Systems, and Visual Augmentation Systems.

Want to design the next Ground Combat Vehicle?

There's a good post on Danger Room about the ongoing, highly open-ended solicitation for the next Ground Combat Vehicle. The Army wants 1,800 of them in 7 years, for less than $450M and $10M per vehicle. Beyond that, and some rough acquisition priorities, they are open to ideas.

"The Ground Combat Vehicle is a relatively blank canvas. Does it have to have treads or wheels? What kind of gun should it have, if any at all? How fast should it go? What kind of communications capabilities? The answer: Shrug. Up to you, buddy."

So if this is the kind of thing you do on the side, you can download the RFP here and get to work. First round proposals are due 21 Jan.

Updated (notes) on Army Technology

This part of our report series went quickly out of date following the demise of Future Combat Systems and subsequent rethinking of a number of programs within the Army/Soldier/Land Systems area by the U.S. DoD. This continues to be a very interesting sector for a number of reasons, among them:

Essentially a highly fragmented space with numerous programs based around smaller, flexible acquisitions strategies; we think this equals more opportunities for small-medium sized companies and technology entrepreneurship.

A truly global marketplace. Every developed nation and many emerging ones have made soldier modernization, as well as interoperability, a core tenet of their overall defense strategy and long term acquisitions budgets. On the industry side this is one area where the Big 5 are not dominating (although they are definitely involved), mostly because of the modular/scaled and open architecture acquisitions environment.

Soldier Tech hits a lot of interesting areas that could have massive applications in the commercial sector. Battery tech, secure mobile communications, knowledge management and complex event processing, alternative energy, bio defense ---- obviously, all of these are getting developed actively in the private sector as well and that is a great thing (in both directions).

So rather than wait for a fully developed report (that might change again anyway), we have decided to make this area of the website our "whiteboard" for Army technology and to keep track of our growing notes & data collection that we may or may not formalize at a later date. 

Army Technology

A friend of mine, who happens to work for Army Test and Evaluation Command, has helpfully pointed out that our Defense Technology report on Army Technology is officially out of date. He writes:

I noticed that your Army Technology section is based on FCS.  The FCS public website has been updated with info on the new Army Brigade Combat Team (BCT) Modernization strategy, which has replaced the FCS strategy.  It includes Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV), the new direction for what were the FCS manned ground vehicles (MGVs). Another useful reference for Army technology is the Army Science & Technology Master Plan (ASTMP), which is published biennially and is available through the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Check. I admit we are behind on updating the Army Technology portion of the website. I want this to be a major, central part of our content going forward so I am just planning how to attack this and developing the editorial plan. If anyone reading this would be interested in contributing content or even suggesting an idea on how to cover emerging Army/Soldier technology, please use the contact form to send me a note or post on the Defense Ventures network. One possibility is to find an analyst that could cover a major company in the sector, like maybe Oshkosh. Or of course multiple analysts/stocks. Not sure -- I am open to ideas if anyone has them to share. Thanks in advance.

New Hybrid Heavy Truck from Oshkosh

Four days after receiving a $23M order for 45 HEMMT A4's from TACOM, Oshkosh is displaying a HEMMT A3 with ProPulse® diesel electric hybrid system at CALSTART`s Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) in
Atlanta. According to a press release from Reuters, the new vehicle improves fuel efficiency by as much as 33% under stop-and-go driving conditions. ProPulse upgrade kits are also available for other vehicles, including the Oshkosh Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR).

More Army Technology Content Coming

Speaking of the Defense Ventures Networking Site, I recently posted the following excerpt about publishing some more focused content here, specifically about Army Technology and land systems. I wanted to share the same post here:

"In general, I'm going to start doing a lot more content related to land systems and Army technology. I think this is a really interesting area where there is some overlooked development and entrepreneurial potential. First, there is the growing, and increasingly global market for tactical wheeled vehicles and light armored vehicles. The Stryker has been out there for 10 years now and it seems like every industrialized country is promoting its own national LAV champion, particularly to emerging foreign buyers that are leapfrogging tracked vehicles in favor of wheeled fleets.

Also consider technology at the forefront of the Army's needs and you'll find issues like alternative fuels, solar power, drive train and power transmission, battery tech -- even networked communications and advanced materials. All of these have parallels in important broad social issues and commercial technology development. Remember: the first long range electric vehicle will probably carry troops, not families.

Anyway, I just wanted to mentioned that there would be some more focused content on the blog in the near term. I welcome comments, feedback, as well as guest input if you are in a related field or have ideas in this area."

***NOTE ON PICTURE: I was trying to find a random shot of a LAV and thought I'd be mildly clever by using a BTR-80. In so doing I think I found a picture including a Bradley from my old unit where I was a platoon leader in Bosnia. We used to go on patrol frequently with the Russians in a nearby sector around the ZOS. I think that is Bravo-34 on the left, out from Camp Alicia.