Dodge Ram COMBATT, Dodge Ram 2500 COMBATT C-11 Hybrid, Jeep TJL

The COMBATT initiative is a joint venture between the U.S. Army TACOM's National Automotive Center and the Big Three automakers--DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors--to develop military vehicles with enhanced off-road mobility, improved durability, state-of-the-art technologies, and lower cost. The requirements call for a commercial, light tactical truck (remanufactured to Army specifications) for carrying troops and cargo, which will be used as a replacement in some applications for the current-volume military vehicle, the HUMVEE (H1).

Offered at a savings of close to $30,000 per vehicle over the H1, present prototypes include a modified Dodge Ram 2500/3500, Ford F-350, and Heavy Duty Chevrolet Silverado. Dodge also has built a diesel/electric hybrid version of its truck. The modifications will make them appealing to Federal Government agencies and other customers who need capable off-road vehicles for severe duty such as logging, mining, and rural firefighting, and for counties that don't have highly developed highway systems. Other government agencies currently evaluating the COMBATT vehicles include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Border Patrol, and state law-enforcement organizations.

Some of the modifications to get these dual-use vehicles up to military standards include air springs (ride-height adjustment), extended suspension, up-size wheels and tires, a central tire-inflation system, four-wheel ABS, a yaw-stability-management system, advanced differentials, variable-stiffness anti-roll bars, adaptive cruise control, extra body and chassis protection, black-box recorder, driver-vision enhancement with panel display, complete suite of electronics for navigation/ communications, as well as for diagnostics.

"This effort is a part of the Army's 21st Century Truck Initiative," notes Dennis Wend, director of the NAC in Warren, Michigan. "It has goals of building smarter, safer, and more fuel-efficient trucks for our future force." NAC is the Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center's (TARDEC) principal conduit for technology transfer from the automotive industry into the Army's ground-vehicles-research/development projects. NAC is also at the forefront of the 21st Century Truck Initiative, which also has a unique goal of developing systems that must benefit the commercial sector and the military.

"The magnitude of our mission directly affects our defending warriors," says Major General N. Ross Thompson III, commander of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command. "[They are] the fighting men and women in today's Army. But we look at a support horizon that spans 70 years--from equipment built in the mid-'60s to equipment that'll still be in soldiers' hands in 2035." TT