July 2011: USA Orders 45 Remanufactured M88A2 HERCULES ARVs

M88 & M1: Need a tow?

The M88 HERCULES (Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Life Evacuation System) tracked armored recovery vehicle is built on a unique chassis modified from the previous-generation M60 Patton tank, and can tow or winch any American vehicle out of trouble, up to and including the 70-ton M1 Abrams battle tank. They also carry a hoist and boom with up to 35 ton capacity, for operations like engine changes in the field.

Production of the much-improved M88A2 variant began in 1994, and has continued steadily. HERCULES ARVs serve in a number of countries. Iraq is the latest addition to the type’s operating roster, via refurbishment of former US Army vehicles. In July 2011, the US military ordered more.

Next-Gen 120mm Tank Killer: ATK’s M829E4 AKE

APFSDS in flight

ATK recently announced a $77 million, 3-year contract, exercising an option to develop and qualify the USA’s new 120mm tank-killing round for use in the U.S. Army’s M1A2 SEP Abrams tanks. The M829E4 is called the Advanced Kinetic Energy round, and belongs to a class known as APFSDS-T: Armor Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot with Tracer. As the picture shows, the shell casing releases a penetrator sabot dart, which flies at extreme velocity to punch through enemy tank armor. The tracer element makes it easy to see the round in flight.

While manufacturers like Rheinmetall use tungsten alloys for the APFSDS dart, American rounds use alloys of similarly-dense depleted uranium (DU)…

Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle, July 2011

(c) DJ Elliott

DJ Elliott is a retired USN Intelligence Specialist (22 years active duty) who has been analyzing and writing about Iraqi Security Forces developments since 2006. His Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle is an open-source compilation that attempts to map and detail Iraqi units and equipment, as their military branches and internal security forces grow and mature. While “good enough for government use” is not usually uttered as a compliment, US Army TRADOC has maintained permission to use the ISF OOB for their unclassified handouts since 2008.

This compilation is reproduced here with full permission. It offers a set of updates highlighting recent changes in the ISF’s composition and development, followed by the full updated ISF OOBs in PDF format. Reader feedback and tips are encouraged. Recent developments include:

Indonesia Signs $1B+ Defense Credit Agreement With Russia

Kilo Class

Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped in Indonesia to finalize a $1.2 billion defense agreement and to strengthen economic ties. Indonesia has begun buying Russian equipment, including the recent $335 million purchase of more SU-27/30 Flanker family fighters, but Defence Ministry spokesman Edy Butar Butar told Reuters that no banks had stepped forward yet to finance the deal. The Russian defense package opens a line of credit that will allow Indonesia to buy Russian military equipment during the next 15 years, something they can afford as natural resources have made Russia the world’s second-largest holder of foreign currency reserves after China. A pair of SSK Kilo Class attack submarines, 20 armored vehicles, and 15-22 helicopters are reportedly on the shopping list, as part of larger modernization efforts; meanwhile, President Yudhoyono was blunt about their other reasons for accepting:

“We want to diversify the sources of our equipment. Russia is offering us a generous package, and Russia also does not attach any conditions whatsoever. Russia is all business and does not attach any political conditions and that is the way we like it, and that is why we took up the offer.”

Indonesian Defence Minister (and blogger) Juwono Sudarsono was even blunter:

Sustaining the M1 Abrams: US Army Puts a TIGER in its Tanks

M1 Abrams: Let’s Roll

Honeywell International Inc. in Morris Township, NJ won a U.S. Army contract to change the way it supports its AGT-1500 turbine engine, used on the M1 Abrams tank and related platforms. Honeywell had forecast that the overall contract under the US Army’s Total InteGrated Engine Revitalization (TIGER) program could amount to $1.4 billion by the end of its lifetime – and with the program reaching the $1.5 billion milestone, their estimate was proven correct.

What distinguishes Honeywell’s performance-based approach under TIGER from previous contracts? How does the program fit in with overall US Army plans for the M1 Abrams out to 2027? And what are the latest awards made under the TIGER program to the end of FY 2011?

MCTAGS, You’re It: BAE Supplies USMC Transparent Armored Gun Shields

MCTAGS on Various Vehicles
(click to view larger)

US Marines deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan face numerous hazards in close-combat urban environments. Certainly, small arms fire and fragments from IED explosions are high on the list. To lessen those risks, the USMC turned to BAE Systems to develop a transparent, bulletproof shield that can be attached to gun turrets on a number of types of armored vehicles.

It is called the Marine Corps Transparent Armor Gun Shield (MCTAGS), and BAE Systems received a contract in 2005 to develop and produce MCTAGS to replace the Gunner’s Protection Kit used on most USMC armored vehicles.

PARSing Statements: Malaysia’s New Wheeled APCs

FNSS’ Pars 8×8

In April 2010, Britain’s BAE Systems Plc and Turkey’s Nurol Holding AS reportedly signed a letter of intent worth up to $500 million, to help supply about 250 armored vehicles to the Malaysian government through their FNSS Savunma Sistemleri AS joint venture. Their Malaysia partner will be a unit of Kuala Lumpur-listed DRB-Hicom Bhd., who will perform assembly in country.

That became a contract in 2011, but the overall program cost from Malaysia’s budget will be about $2 billion higher. Now, why might that be?

Czechs Choose, Cancel, Then Come Back to Pandur II APCs

Pandur II w. RCWS-30

In January 2006, the Czech Republic selected General Dynamics’ European Land Combat Systems subsidiary Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH of Austria to supply its army with 199 new eight-wheeled Pandur II armored personnel carriers (APCs) between 2007-2012. The KBVP vehicles would replace Soviet-era OT-64 SKOT APCs, and would be produced in Austria and the Czech Republic.

In 2005 the contract included an option for 35 additional vehicles for a total of 234, and had a potential value of Koruna 23.6 billion ($1-1.4 billion). Steyr’s Pandur II was a finalist, and eventually won the competition. But questions arose, the deal became a political football, and delivery issues jeopardized the deal into oblivion. Or so it seemed. Despite the economic crisis gripping Eastern Europe, the Czechs reinstated a scaled-down version of the deal in late February 2009.

Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle, April/ May 2011

(c) DJ Elliott

DJ Elliott is a retired USN Intelligence Specialist (22 years active duty) who has been analyzing and writing on Iraqi Security Forces developments since 2006. His Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle is an open-source compilation that attempts to map and detail Iraqi units and equipment, as their military branches and internal security forces grow and mature. While “good enough for government use” is not usually uttered as a compliment, US Army TRADOC has maintained permission to use the ISF OOB for their unclassified handouts since 2008.

This compilation is reproduced here with full permission. It offers a set of updates highlighting recent changes in the ISF’s composition and development, followed by the full updated ISF OOBs in PDF format.

RESET of the US Army’s Vehicle Fleet, 2005-2010

USMC M1A1 settles a
firefight in Fallujah

The RESET process takes used vehicles apart, inspects the parts, then replaces any defective parts and refurbishes the equipment to like-new condition. Sometimes upgrades are also performed. RESET and related processes like remanufacture/upgrades are being performed on M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley IFV/CFVs, HMMWV jeeps, and even helicopters. It usually takes place when the vehicles return from the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, where sand damage and increased wear have taken their toll.

In truth, many of these vehicles were produced in the 1980s, and are reaching an age where “deep maintenance” is a wise and necessary measure. Note that this is not a complete list of RESET contracts.

• RESET Programs and Procedures
  
• RESET Contracts, Delivery Orders & Developments, FY 2006-Present [updated]
  
• Vehicle Fleets and Maintenance Overhangs
  
• Additional Readings