HYBRID TACTICAL TRUCK COMPLETES 5,000 MILES OF TESTING AT ABERDEEN PROVING GROUNDS

A hybrid diesel-electric tactical truck has completed an unprecedented 5,000 miles of performance tests at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. The vehicle's propulsion system was evaluated in a 4,000-mile reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) test on Aberdeen's challenging Churchville courses after characterisation testing of more than 1,000 miles on the facility's fuel economy course. The testing was performed on an Army Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck converted to a hybrid by BAE SYSTEMS.

The hybrid technology, developed by BAE SYSTEMS, is available commercially as the Hybri-Driveâ„¢ propulsion system.

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Science Applications International Corporation, selected to be the Lead System Integrator team for the Army's Future Combat System program, contracted with BAE SYSTEMS to test the hybrid FMTV under the FCS Manned Platform Attributes Demonstration program. The six-wheel-drive truck, ballasted up to 16 tons, was tested on Aberdeen's hilly Churchville course and performed extremely well throughout the three-month evaluation. The Churchville course consists of grades up to 29 percent, stops, tight turns, all conducted on a rough cross-country section.

The first hybrid electric vehicle more than 12,000 pounds ever to complete 4,000 miles of RAM testing, the truck also broke the Churchville course mileage record for any FMTV, hybrid or conventional, covering 179 miles in a single day.

"The truck's performance was excellent,� said Karl Eisinger of Boeing, who oversaw the FMTV demonstration. "Acceleration and fuel economy were both better than conventional diesel FMTVs, and it did not incur a single component failure during a highly demanding series of tests.�

The hybrid FMTV is based on a series hybrid configuration that uses two electric motors, a traction generator, a propulsion control system, and an energy storage unit. Buses using similar technology, developed by BAE SYSTEMS, have logged almost a million miles in revenue service in cities across the United States, and New York City's transit authority has committed to buying a production fleet of 325 buses equipped with the BAE SYSTEMS HybriDriveâ„¢ propulsion system.

Hybrid technology offers the Army these benefits:

- On-board power generation: The hybrid FMTV can be used as a self-contained mobile power plant producing up to 200 kilowatts of continuous exportable power. Generating electricity for weapon systems, communications equipment, field hospitals, and other uses otherwise requires towing an auxiliary generator.
- Improved fuel economy: Fuel consumption is of particular concern to the military because of the high cost of delivering fuel to battlefields and other remote locations.
- Improved performance: The FMTV tests at Aberdeen demonstrated superior performance that can be customised, through system software, to maximise acceleration, fuel economy, or power generation, according to the situation.