Mungo Trucks Don’t Make the Grade in Afghanistan
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KMW’s Mungo truck is designed as a heavier vehicle than the Mercedes Wolf, which can accept heavier armor while remaining transportable in CH-53G Sea Stallion and CH-47 Chinook helicopters, as well as larger platforms like C-160 Transall aircraft. It would seem to be an ideal vehicle for use in Afghanistan, where 283 of the jeep-style Wolfs are serving.
To fill that role, however, the Mungo vehicle has to be able to handle Afghanistan’s difficult terrain. Wheeled vehicles of all sorts have shown limitations in Afghanistan’s mud and broken landscape, but some are more limited than others. In order to ensure transportability, one of the Mungo’s tradeoffs has been suspension and axles that have attracted criticism for insufficient strength and reliability. That has apparently proven fatal in Afghanistan’s harsh terrain, and the German military will reportedly be withdrawing them from Afghanistan due to mobility difficulties in theater.
