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Subject: Phalanx + Diesel-Electric HEMTT = Mobile Centurion
doggtag    10/11/2008 4:57:34 PM
From AUSA (Association of the United States States Army ) 2008 Annual Meeting & Exposition, courtesy of DefenseNews.Com, we have this: http://www.defensenews.com/osd_story.php?sh=VSDA&i=3763519 { ht*p://www.defensenews.com/osd_story.php?sh=VSDA&i=3763519 } (article and pic to follow)
 
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doggtag       10/11/2008 4:59:08 PM

Raytheon, Oshkosh to Mount Phalanx on HEMTT

Aim is to increase efficiency for weapons that provide security to forces in Iraq
By kris osborn
Published: 8 Oct 21:22 EDT (01:22 GMT)
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Raytheon and Oshkosh have teamed up to build a prototype defensive system by placing a rapid-fire, area-defense Phalanx gun on the back of a diesel-electric, 14-ton Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT).

http://www.defensenews.com/pgf/stories19/100808_hemtt_phalanx_ausa.JPG" width="315" alt="" />
http://www.defensenews.com/images/arrow_caption.png" width="29" alt="" />
The Raytheon-Oshkosh prototype of the Mobile Centurion mounted Phalanx gun. ( Raytheon)

The U.S. Army now has 22 Phalanx guns protecting soldiers and forward bases in Iraq, Raytheon officials said. Developed to protect Navy ships, the Phalanx spits out up to 4,500 rounds of 20mm tungsten bullets per minute, shooting down missiles, rockets, and mortar and artillery rounds. A version called the Centurion, mounted on a flat-bed trailer, is currently being used in Iraq.

"The Phalanx-HEMTT prototype is part of the development of the Centurion defensive system." said John Eagles, a Raytheon public affairs manager. "Placing the weapon on a HEMTT is going to provide our customer with a uniquely mobile capacity to defend high-value installations."

The diesel-electric HEMTT saves 20 percent more fuel; a diesel engine drives a generator which then drives electric drive motors to propel the vehicle.

The Phalanx requires a significant amount of electrical power to operate, which is part of the reason why the gun is now outfitted on the back of a diesel-electric HEMTT, which is able to bring 120 kilowatts of clean, military-grade exportable power to the battlefield.

"It does provide some advanced capability," said Joaquin Salas, Oshkosh marketing manager. "So if you are positioning the vehicle with more maneuver forces or command centers that need to be mobile, those sort of things would benefit from having a vehicle that does not have to tow generators but can carry the equipment it needs and has its exportable power directly built into the vehicle."

The HEMTT was specially configured to accommodate the 7-ton Phalanx weapon.

"We removed a load-handling system that was normally carried on the back of the truck. We put fixed platforms on the vehicle and did the integration of the Phalanx," said Stephen Nimmer, Oshkosh engineering director.

Phalanx guns providing area security near forward bases in Iraq have destroyed enemy rockets, mortars and other weapons at least 105 times, Eagles said.

The traditional trailer is transportable by C-17 only one at a time, whereas three to four HEMTT A3s with a Phalanx can fit on a C-17.

Oshkosh has been working on fuel-saving alternative propulsion technologies for many years, company officials said.

"We stepped up years ago and said we have to do something like this. We knew there had to be an opportunity for us to do better carrying fuel into battle by getting more miles per gallon," said John Stoddart, President of Oshkosh Defense.
http://www.defensenews.com/pgf/stories19/100808_hemtt_phalanx_ausa.JPG" width="470" border="0" />
 
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gf0012-aust       10/11/2008 5:25:49 PM
 
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gf0012-aust       10/11/2008 5:27:14 PM
dodgey software!  I wish they'd change it to something decent.
 
h!!p://www.t5c.biz/showthread.php?t=8051

 
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doggtag    I like where this is going...see page 4 of this Raytheon pdf   10/11/2008 5:39:41 PM
Saw this pdf ,too...
 
{   ht*p://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/rtnwcm/groups/public/documents/content/de_media.pdf   }
 
More on the LADS Laser Area Defense System can be found over here  at Defense-Update.Com, from their 2007 news articles...
{   ht*p://www.defense-update.com/newscast/0107/news/090107_lads.htm   }
 
I'm digging around for the site links I've seen on the FCS MGV family's hybrid diesel-electric powerplant designs.
The one I saw for the NLOS-C is a quite compact set up for its maximum rated power (when compared to other AFV powerplant installations).
Some of these are expected to provide upwards of 400kW.
And keep in mind also: these hybrid drives are still pretty much in their infancy as far as where we'll be able to take them.
Look how much more power we can draw form equivalent-sized (sheer physical volume, cylinder displacement, etc) powerpacks for AFVs over the years. Today's engines can generate easily 3 and 4 times the output of AFV engines from not even a half century ago.
 
So there shouldn't be any worries that improved hybrid drives won't have enough power to juice up these projected land-mobile DEW CIWS/AA type systems.
 
Awesome.
 
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doggtag    your other forum thread   10/11/2008 6:53:58 PM
The poster unicorn hit up a good point about the Centurion when compared to the Phalanx: HEI rounds instead of APDS tungsten,...or even DU in early USN Phalanx systems (DU was nice for its pyrophoric nature when impacting steel/iron alloys at high velocities).
 
I wonder if land-based CIWS become more common,
perhaps new ammunition types might surface in these 20-35mm calibers (hell, even a 12,7mm mini-CIWS would work: GE once offered a GeCal system that was, in effect, a scaled-down 3- or 6-barrel Vulcan but in 12.7mm caliber and steered by other ship sensors rather than a Phalanx-type dome-protected sensors).
 
I was browsing thru the back issues of Defense Technology International over at AviationWeek.Com
,and in particular noticed a couple articles,
one is  here   on page 49, Jan/Feb 2008 DTI (Over the Edge 1, Explosive Chips),
and one is here   on page 14, March 2008 DTI (Tech Watch, Force Multiplier (BattleAxe reactive materials warhead program)).
 
Somewhere between those two programs lies 20mm ammunition that has little downrange danger risk other than its high-speed impact with the intended target (or near enough to it, if a micro-miniaturized fuze can be incorporated in, receiving an RF single from the launcher that detonates it at the ideal intercept point (so we don't have to go into the expense of some sort of overly complex microfuze for each 20mm shell, along the lines of a scaled-down 3P or 3A+ type,
or trying to incorporate some sort of muzzle-mounted induction programmers, which would be quite difficult with Vulcan-type guns)...
 
Not everything will be most effectively engaged by lasers, but quite a lot will be.
A new generation of RF command-detonated smart fuzes, coupled to reactive materials with a light armor piercing capability, and we've got something quite formidable (from 12.7mm up thru whatever maximum caliber you want, really),
especially if the majority of US aircraft aren't dropping their 20mm M61s anytime soon
(think smart frangible ammunition).
 
These reactive materials might be a good way to steer away from DU for a lot of medium- and lower-caliber munitions...
 
Wonder if anybody's thought along similar lines yet...?
 
 
 
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doggtag    my bad, my bad   10/11/2008 7:38:34 PM
Just now noticed my mistake:
the article on reactive material warheads is on page 13 of the DTI March 2008 issue, not page 14 like I posted.
The link still goes to the same issue, just page back a notch...
 
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