Tactical Trucks for Tomorrow's Army: Can Commercial Vehicles Do the Job?

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

In dire need to replace dilapidated jeeps, the U.S. Army in the early 1980s bought commercial pick-up trucks and sent them to front-line combat units in the deserts of Southwest Asia.

The results were disastrous.

These trucks essentially were run-of-the-mill pick-ups with camouflage paint. They were not robust enough for off-road driving. So the Army decided that the only light truck it would buy in the future would be the Humvee (high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle), which has become a mainstay of the Army's fleet since it was introduced in the mid-1980s.

Humvees are rugged, highly mobile and flexible for all-around combat operations. In 1989, they became the "official" light tactical truck of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.

But commercial auto manufacturers, working in alliance with the Army's National Automotive Center in Detroit, now claim that they can deliver high-performance light trucks for military use. They would not be able to match every capability in the Humvee, but they believe they could provide most of what the Humvee offers, at a lower price.

The National Automotive Center (NAC), which operates under the Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, serves as a liaison between the Army and the commercial auto industry, particularly the Big Three in Detroit: DaimlerChrysler, the Ford Co., and General Motors. One of the NAC's missions is to help the Army modernize its vehicles by adopting state-of-the-art commercial technology from the civilian sector.

Thus emerged the Combatt program.

Combatt, or commercially-based tactical truck, began as a technology-sharing project to facilitate the insertion of advanced components and subsystems into the Humvee fleet. But during the past three years, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, in a cost-sharing agreement with NAC, have developed two prototype vehicles that many experts believe can meet most of the Humvee operational requirements while providing comfort features--such as air-conditioning, quiet cabs and cushy seats--that are common in today's commercial models.

Ford's Combatt platform is an F350 4x4 four-door crew cab pick-up truck. DaimlerChrysler's is a Dodge 2500 4x4 four-door quad cab.

General Motors Corp., which had been a participant in Combatt earlier on, withdrew its Silverado truck from the program, but recently came back after signing an agreement with NAC.

GM, to be sure, is nor new to the military truck market. The company makes the so-called commercial utility cargo vehicle (CUCV), which has been sold to the U.S. military services since 1983, even though the Army was disappointed by its performance in off-road operations. When the CUCV failed to meet the Army's expectations, the service decided to purchase Humvees only.

Vehicle Prototype

During the 2001 National Defense Industrial Association's tactical wheeled vehicles symposium in Monterey, Calif., GM representatives parked a Combatt prototype in front of the conference site.

That was seen as a clever marketing move by some industry executives at the conference. But it did not go well with the Army's program office for light tactical trucks.

"To be advertising this capability as a Humvee-replacement is off the mark," said Nancy Moulton, who manages the Army's fleet of more than 100,000 light tactical wheeled vehicles. "The commercial trucks are cheaper, but Humvees last three times as long and do not fall apart like our CUCV program did," she told National Defense during the conference.

Commercial trucks, she added, "have potential as general administration trucks but [are nor suitable] for war fighting. We are not going to sacrifice any war-fighting capabilities."

One benefit that Moulton would like to see as a result of the Combatt program is expanded competition in the industry, she said. Currently, only AM General Corp., in South Bend, Ind., makes the Humvee. The company also makes a commercial variant, called the Hummer. An upgraded version of the Hummer, known as the H2, will be built by a partnership between GM and AM General.

"When we competed the last Humvee buy, AM General was the only bidder," said Moulton. "We need more competition. We hope the Combatt program will provide incentives for the Big Three to want to compete in a light tactical vehicle program. ... We would like to have the new capabilities, more competition and better prices."

She is not convinced that large auto-makers will want to invest resources in vehicles that will only produce small runs. The Army's fleet of about 100,000 is pocket change for companies used to making millions of vehicles.

Moulton acknowledged that Combatt trucks have improved their suspension for off-road driving, but they are still nor "at the Humvee level." Some day, she added, "they may be, but not now."

An industry source, who did not want to be quoted by name, said that Moulton "has been very antagonistic to the Combatt program from the beginning." According to this source, who works closely with Army truck programs, Moulton was approached by NAC officials to become involved in the program but she consistently has declined to participate.

When asked about the future of Combatt, the director of the NAC, Dennis Wend, said the program is in a wait-and-see mode.

"We have to play out and see where that is going to go," he said. "We are in the process of getting a third vehicle, from GM, at their own cost...