By the end of 2010, the UK expects to receive faster, more maneuverable, and more powerful tugs to guide destroyers and aircraft carriers in and out of British ports, under the GBP 1 billion Future Provision Marine Services contract awarded by the UK Ministry of Defence to Serco Denholm in 2007.
Called “tugs of the future,” the new fleet of 29 marine service vessels will guide the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers and eventually Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers out of Portsmouth Naval Base and other naval bases around the country.
The new Azimuth drive tugs will be able to move more quickly and pull heavier weights than the current fleet of twin-unit tractor tugs (TUTTs).
The M1070 Heavy Equipment Transport/Tractor (HET) lives up to its name, towing trailers that can carry tanks, armored vehicles or heavy construction equipment and their crews, in order to minimize wear and maximize speed.
Egypt has a substantial ongoing tank program, centered on agreements to purchase and assemble over 1,000 M1 Abrams tanks. Those tanks need HET trucks. The M1 Abrams is also famously poor on fuel economy, even for a tank. Hence recent orders for HEMTT A4 fuel trucks.
