Photo: Oshkosh
Military gear and supply airdrops have been around for as long as aviation has been used to fight wars. It's an effective way of delivering troops, weapons, and supplies right where they're needed, circumventing lengthy and potentially dangerous land-based supply lines.
There are many things that can be dropped from an airplane to serve the needs of troops on the ground, but few of them are as spectacular as vehicles. I mean, just imagine looking up and seeing a combat, tactical, or some other kind of military machine slowly descending toward you strapped to a parachute.
That's something the people who happened to be at Fort Liberty in North Carolina recently got to witness, as an undisclosed cargo plane was used to perform several airdrops of a medium tactical vehicle made by defense contractor Oshkosh.
The truck is part of a group of such machines officially called the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) A2. The group comprises six variants at the moment, but only three of them are suitable to be dropped from airplanes, namely the Cargo 6×6, Cargo 4×4, and Dump Truck 6×6. They have all been created as a potential replacement for the current, aging fleet of trucks the Army can deliver by dropping them from the sky.
The truck used in this most recent test was of the Cargo 6×6 variety, and it underwent a procedure the military calls low-velocity airdrop (LVAD). It was, in fact, the truck's final drop test at the hands of the Army's Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, the one that finally gave the green light for the vehicle to be used this way.
We're not told the specifics of the test – things like drop altitude and speed, for instance – but Oshkosh does say the Cargo 6X6 "successfully demonstrated its ability to withstand the rigors of an airdrop, maintain structural integrity upon landing and complete the post-drop road maneuvers."
When on the ground, the 6x6 is capable of carrying a total payload of 10,000 pounds (4,436 kg) and can travel at speeds as high as 60 mph (96 kph). The cab where the driver and passenger are seated is armored, and houses gear for communication, control, and navigation, and can even be fitted with weapon systems if need be.
It's unclear when the Army will start fielding the trucks for airborne operations, but whereas for the 6x6 variant the test procedures are over, not the same can be said about the 4x4, which will go through the same later this year.
This variant of the FMTV A2 comes with a 5,000-pound (2,267 kg) payload capacity and the same top speed as its bigger sibling.
The Army agreed about three years ago to purchase over 500 trucks from the FMTV A2 family, and started fielding them in the summer of last year.
That's something the people who happened to be at Fort Liberty in North Carolina recently got to witness, as an undisclosed cargo plane was used to perform several airdrops of a medium tactical vehicle made by defense contractor Oshkosh.
The truck is part of a group of such machines officially called the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) A2. The group comprises six variants at the moment, but only three of them are suitable to be dropped from airplanes, namely the Cargo 6×6, Cargo 4×4, and Dump Truck 6×6. They have all been created as a potential replacement for the current, aging fleet of trucks the Army can deliver by dropping them from the sky.
The truck used in this most recent test was of the Cargo 6×6 variety, and it underwent a procedure the military calls low-velocity airdrop (LVAD). It was, in fact, the truck's final drop test at the hands of the Army's Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, the one that finally gave the green light for the vehicle to be used this way.
We're not told the specifics of the test – things like drop altitude and speed, for instance – but Oshkosh does say the Cargo 6X6 "successfully demonstrated its ability to withstand the rigors of an airdrop, maintain structural integrity upon landing and complete the post-drop road maneuvers."
When on the ground, the 6x6 is capable of carrying a total payload of 10,000 pounds (4,436 kg) and can travel at speeds as high as 60 mph (96 kph). The cab where the driver and passenger are seated is armored, and houses gear for communication, control, and navigation, and can even be fitted with weapon systems if need be.
It's unclear when the Army will start fielding the trucks for airborne operations, but whereas for the 6x6 variant the test procedures are over, not the same can be said about the 4x4, which will go through the same later this year.
This variant of the FMTV A2 comes with a 5,000-pound (2,267 kg) payload capacity and the same top speed as its bigger sibling.
The Army agreed about three years ago to purchase over 500 trucks from the FMTV A2 family, and started fielding them in the summer of last year.
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