Army trucks
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show civil promise by Bill Godwin EXHIBITS by commercial vehicle, trailer and bodybuilders at last week's Army Equipment show provided an interesting comparison between units originally designed for civil use and their military spin-offs.
The cross-fertilisation of design work on equipment for defence applications and the subsequent feed-back from which commercial vehicle makers, and ultimately the aperator, 'benefit is a valuable feature of the defence industries in the automotive sphere.
Brief reference has already been made (CM June 25), to the new Bedford TM 4-4 and It the Aldershot exhibition 3ritish Leyland also revealed a iew 8 tonne load carrier for medium mobility role.
With Mastiff ancestry the ,eyland all-wheel-drive unit is )(towered by the Perkins V8 i40 engine of 180 bhp driving wough a heavy duty transoission and transfer box to le 8 ton front axle and 11.5 m rear axle.
Although the modified cab high pitched the tilt facility as been retained. The vehicle ill also take a generalurpose tipping body or 2,200 us fuel tanker and will climb 1 in 3 gradient.
Other British Leyland exhits included a Scammell rusader 6x4 tractor unit with Crane-Fruehauf low loading trii-trailer and a lhd Cumins-engined Contractor for overseas use. This machine, shown with a semi-trailer tank transporter, had an air-conditioned cab.
Also on show was the wellestablished 690 dump truck, which, starting off as an AEC design and passing through an Aveling Barford phase now appears with the Scammell badge.
The contribution by Fodens to the new generation of army transport was illustrated by three units and an additional 6 x 4 with special AmpBroil recovery equipment on the He arncrest-Boughton stand.
Foden is currently halfway through an MoD contract for the supply of over 1,000 low mobility vehicles. In addition the company has completed 25 pre-production 6 x 6 medium mobility units and has developed a 4 x 4 derivative.