Non-metal structure lightens military truck.

• Author: Wright, Austin
• Position: TECHWIRE EXPLORING TECHNOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

* The Army is testing an all-composite military vehicle that weighs 900 pounds less than the humvee it was modeled after. The vehicle already has passed durability and road tests, and the final step, the blast evaluation, is expected to be completed by July.

Steve Lockard, CEO of Arizona-based TPI Composites Inc., the manufacturer, says the potential weight reduction could result in lower fuel costs. Military officials would be able to attach additional armor, if necessary. "It offers the Army different options," Lockard says.

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The vehicle's structure is composed entirely of non-metallic parts--mainly a mixture of fiberglass, carbon fibers, balsa wood and resin. Industry experts have raised concerns that composite vehicles might not survive blasts as well as steel vehicles. But so far, Lockard says, the truck has demonstrated in evaluations that it meets Army requirements and is as strong as its steel counterparts.

It will be more expensive, though. "The composite materials themselves cost more than steel," Lockard says. "But the total increase in the price of the truck should be fairly small."

The composite material could be installed in other vehicles, as well, Lockard says. "It's up to the Army to decide how it will use this technology."

The Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command funded the vehicle's development.

RELATED ARTICLE: Fighter pilot simulation depicts nighttime weapons launch

* Some fighter pilots are now training with a simulator that can depict the effects of firing a weapon while using night vision goggles.

"This can be quite startling," says Chris Henderson, vice president for product development at Presagis, a Canadian technology company that developed the software. Boeing integrated the program into a full-mission package that is now being evaluated as a trainer for F-15 Eagle tactical fighter pilots.

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"Often, our pilots don't experience the effects of a weapons launch with night vision goggles during training," Henderson adds. "And it can be like shining a bright flashlight in someone's eyes."

Incorporating a nighttime weapons launch into training programs has been difficult in the past because it requires developers to calculate the effects of a sudden flash of light on both the goggles and the pilot's eyes--and then to calculate the time it takes both to readjust. Presagis had already researched these effects, so it incorporated knowledge...