Solution Offered to Prevent Deaths in Armored Vehicles

The military's new armored vehicles might save personnel from insurgent ambushes and terrorist attacks, but will the drivers be trained well enough to save the passengers from accidents?

Blackwater is concerned and is offering a solution. The company built itself as a training provider, and now that the military has opted not to buy its new line of armored vehicles, Blackwater is using the personnel carriers to train drivers about to be deployed.

"Thousands of the MRAP vehicles are being used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their hard shell and design protect occupants; the trucks sit high on a raised chassis and have V-shaped bottoms to shield their underbellies. But they have one drawback: the MRAP vehicles aren't as agile as Humvees," the Virginian-Pilot reports.

"The military has warned troops to be careful behind the wheel after five deaths where connected to vehicle rollovers. The military has also logged dozens of other accidents.
'Overseas, a lot of traffic accidents are happening because the guys aren't used to the characteristics of the vehicles,'" says Jim Sierawski, Blackwater Vice President for Training.

Army Opts for Traditional JLTV Suppliers

The US Army has opted to go with traditional suppliers and not buy the Raytheon-Blackwater Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).

The decision has prompted the company to lay off manufacturing workers and shutter its truck-building division. "We have stopped building all trucks," says spokesman Anne Tyrrell.

Blackwater's business model had promised a very flexible production process for the military.

"Blackwater is situated to do rapid prototyping and low rate production," according to a review of the JLTV in Tactical-Life.com. "The manufacturing facility is co-located with both an on-road and off-road test track. Their explosive and ballistic test ranges are a few hundred yards from manufacturing facilities. Locating their production facility in the middle of a 'tactical laboratory,' shortens the feedback cycle during the test and evaluation phase. Blackwater can build a prototype in the morning, and test it 10 times in the afternoon.

"The Raytheon/Blackwater vehicle has undergone extensive performance testing. The Raytheon/Blackwater JLTV has all the protection of Blackwater’s MRAP II vehicle, but features superior mobility than a Humvee. In designing their vehicle, Blackwater collaborated with a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing team, a champion Rock Racing Team and a Monster Truck Team. The challenge is finding a way to get championship performance out of commercially-available components. Blackwater and Raytheon have succeeded in doing that by tapping the experience of seasoned, experienced racing professionals. As the only truck manufacturing company who actually has its own people in the field, Blackwater has a unique insight into the tactical requirements."

Blackwater Developing Light Strike Vehicle

"The US military is looking for light, high-speed four-wheelers that can zip troops around battlezones," Wired reports. Always ready to serve, Blackwater is coming out with a new prototype, the Light Strike Vehicle.

In recent years, military vehicles have become increasingly heavy. The current incarnation of the Humvee, the M1151, weighs more than twice the original model, the M998. All that additional armor and equipment is great, but it means the vehicle can no longer accomplish all the missions for which it was originally designed. Moreover, the extra weight is putting extra strain on the helicopters that have to ferry these things around.

That's where the Light Strike Vehicle comes in. "Still in the prototype stage, the 3,000-pound vehicle will have a 500-horsepower engine, 41-inch tires and a 2,500-pound payload." And under the right conditions, it can do 100mph.

“A vehicle with outstanding off­road capability and high axle articu­lation requires a compliant and loose suspension with maximum travel,” said Marty Strong, Blackwa­ter USA vice president of communi­cations. “These are the opposite characteristics required of a high­speed platform. Our suspension de­sign spans both worlds by offering high articulation and extreme off­road performance, while still main­taining great manners when travel­ing at speeds approaching 100 mph.

Pictures of Blackwater's Light Strike Vehicle prototype are not yet avaliable, so what you see above is a similar vehicle from Chenoweth, deployed during the first Gulf War.

This is not, of course, Blackwater's first vehicle project; the Grizzly is an armored personnel carrier (APC) on the heavier side of the spectrum, a vehicle which received critical acclaim from those that would have to use it. One military blogger praised it for its "attention to detail" and its design to "deflect the effect of roadside bombs and mines."

Blackwater Develops Better Armor for US Forces

Blackwater Worldwide, in conjunction with ARES Systems, has developed "lighter, stronger, more cost-effective armor," according to a recent press release.

The armor, known as EXO Scale, is an appliqué that can be added to vehicles already in use. At recent tests at the Aberdeen Test Center, Army engineers fired projectiles at EXO Scale armor, which "conclusively passed the live fire test, proving the viability of EXO Scale for MRAP [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected] II vehicles and as an upgrade to earlier generation MRAP I vehicles," the release explains.

EXO Scale clearly provides better protection for our deployed soldiers, said Maj. Gen. Buff Blount (US Army, ret). EXO Scale weighs approximately 30 percent less than the government's current appliqué armor design. That translates to extended vehicle life, lower operations (fuel) costs and lower maintenance costs due to less wear and tear on the vehicle. He went on to point out that EXO Scale is approximately one-third the cost of current MRAP armor solutions.

In addition to its use as an appliqué, EXO Scale is also being employed on the cutting-edge new Grizzly vehicle from Blackwater (pictured above).