BAE Systems has been awarded a $148.3 million contract by the U.S. Army to upgrade 43 M88A1 heavy-lift vehicles for added capability to evacuate damaged or stranded combat vehicles from the battlefield.
BAE say that this continues the upgrade of the M88A1 to the M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift System (HERCULES) configuration to increase power, maneuverability and survivability to reach the Army’s acquisition objective of 933 M88A2 vehicles.
“The HERCULES is an invaluable vehicle for the Army’s recovery missions,” said Dennis Hancock, director of Recovery Programs at BAE Systems.
“We are proud to support the Army’s recovery needs and we will continue to work alongside the Army to provide upgraded solutions as their missions and requirements change.”
The firm say that the more capable M88A2 tows, hoists, and winches 70-ton tracked vehicles used by the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). The M88A2 increases horsepower and upgraded armor protection including armored track skirts and applique armor panels. The M88A2 can maneuver more quickly and get a 70 ton stranded vehicle – and its crew – to safety. The execution of this contract will increase the total procured quantity of the M88A2 capability to 914.
Work on the program will be performed at the BAE Systems’ facilities in York, Pennsylvania; Aiken, South Carolina; Anniston, Alabama and Sterling Heights, Michigan. Deliveries are to begin in February of 2021.
OK not on the subject above, but Ive just come across a video of an Italian lveco getting hit by a VBIED in Somalia
https://twitter.com/HKaaman/status/1180447969780350976
if you follow the thread it appears the vehicle did as it was supposed to do. The UK purchased 401 of these between 2006 and 2009. I now find that as of last year the MOD is selling off the entire fleet. What is it with the British and selling everything off?
It’s since they found out about ebay….they are taking photos of everything and flogging it off at stupendous discounts. Has anyone been in the Air ministry lately and wondered what happened to the Art Deco fittings? I wonder how much they got for Gavin Williamson?
Its getting replaced. https://uklandpower.com/2019/02/14/re-thinking-the-uks-multi-role-vehicle-protected-mrv-p-programme/
PR wrote:
“Its getting replaced. “
Surely good practice dictates, that you at least have the replacement in place before selling something off.
Or, how about giving the lot to the TA? Sorry, the Reserve. So that they actually have some of their own kit apart from personal issue, soft skinned vehicles, and a sprinkling of guns.
I really don’t understand the UK’s fascination with not storing equipment. In the US when there is new equipment the old stuff either goes to the next unit down the line or to a storage bunker.
Why doesn’t the TA or Reserve have full vehicle and artillery kits? The Guard does in the US, its not like your spending any extra money the gear has already been purchased.
Because even storing equipment takes money, some aircraft you can just dump in the desert and scavenge for parts when needed but that’s a quirk of the environment. The rest of the time storing something in a state that it can still be reactivated means a building to protect it from the weather and periodically (in the order of once a year) taking it out for a test drive and doing preventative maintenance such as oiling and painting as well as replacing parts that will deteriorate even when not used like batteries and capacitors. And the storage facilities themselves also need staffing and maintenance.