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MAN OF WAR?
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German trucks for the BritishArmy' Certainly, if MAN has its way — but the principal components will be shipped in from Germany and Austria for final assembly at the ERF site in Middlewich which currently houses the MAN-ERF vehicle modification unit (VMU).
From there, the trucks will be transferred to the various specialist equipment suppliers (see panel), returning to Middlewich for final pre-delivery checks.
MAN says the UK content of its vehicles will be between 60 and 80%, creating 628 new jobs and safeguarding more than 400. As reported in CM last week,MAN is placing some reliance on the UK's commitment to offset Austria's purchase of 18 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.
The range
MAN is able to cover the Army's requirement with two basic chassis lines. The big difference is the suspension.The "medium mobility" 1-EX has leaf springs while the heavier-duty "improved medium mobility" SX has coil (or hydro-pneumatic) suspension.
The HX is based on the civilian TGA chassis but with tubular cross-members to give greatei flexibility for off-road running. All models have crew acconunodation based around the flat-fronted X-Line cab, with a driving position forward of the en0e.The flat cab panels are fabricated with integral mounting clips for armour plating.
The straight-six.Euro-4 engines have capacities of 6.9,105 and 12.8 litres, developing frorr 330 to 460hp. Other models in the military range include a 700hp V10 heavy tractor — and MAN does produce a wide-chassis 87(8 airport crash tender rated at 1,000hp.
Transmissions for the military vehicles are from ZF— the automated manual AS-Tronic or the full-auto torque converter 6HP900, driving through MAN's own transfer boxes and axles. Radiators are side-mounted for improved protection. All models have S-cam drum brakes with EBS and ABS and a wading capability up to 1,500mm.
Driving impressions Munich's new football stadium that's being built for the 2006 World Cup.
The problem with testing vehicles designed to operate in the most extreme conditions is to find sufficiently challenging terrain.But, while there was nothing at our venue that would have stopped a well-driven Land Rover, negotiating the same obstacles in a six-wheel 23tonner was impressive.
Skilled drivers should be able to negotiate this course, with its 45 climbs and drops, metre-deep lakes and repeated transverse knife-edges. But we were still surprised to discover how easy it was, and how much was left in reserve.
On the skill front,the ZF HP box required no more than the push of a button to be in the right gear, while the handling was forgiving enough to allow driving as fast as our courage would allow. At higher speeds on the snowcovered loose surface a small amount of understeer developed easily, but that was easily countered. And as we became more confident in the MAN's abilities fully controllable powerslides became the order of the day.
It was lots of fun but also demonstrated the forgiving nature of a vehicle that could easily be driven by a relatively inexperienced 18year-old soldier under battlefield conditions.
Drive for your life
During all of our driving, we never required more than the centre diff,even for a restart on one of those steep snowy slopes. One feature new to MAN is a simplified hill-start button. Unlike the system fitted to the latest Mercedes-Benz Actros, this only holds while the button is pressed, but that's enough to make the task easier.
Ride comfort was surprisingly good.especially the absorption of sharp bumps, although larger, lower frequency undulations could get a bit uncomfortable.The only bit of misbehaviour we found was when we gave the EBS system a high-speed emergency test. It helped us stop quickly and free from skidding. but the auto box allowed the engine to stall —not nice if you're literally driving for your life.
We were also impressed by a fully armoured 8x8.whose extra weight added greatly to its ride quality. Overall,we came away with considerable respect for these would-be recruits for the British Army. While MAN is the first to admit that in many ways its range is not the newest of concepts. it puts contemporary technology to good use where required.
This range of vehicles is perfectly capable of delivering the goods for our soldiers— now it's up to the politicians..