The North American International Auto Show sports all kind of vehicles — from the road-hoggiest SUVs to the teeny-tiny-tinniest subcompacts. But you wouldn’t expect military vehicles to turn up in the displays.
But tomorrow, for the media preview, there will be a big green heavy-duty Army unit that you wouldn’t think would live up to its name: the Clandestine Extended Range Vehicle (CERV). If that baby rolls into your neighborhood, as pictured at right, it’s hard to imagine anything clandestine about it.
The vehicle comes from the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren. Mich. It is meant to showcase Michigan’s growing defense industry, which will receive more than $14 billion in federal funds next year.
Besides the CERV, the center also wants to bring attention to that spider-like sand-colored vehicle pictured above, the Autonomous Platform Demonstrator (APD). Looking at them you wouldn’t guess, but the Army has a huge interest in hybrids and other fuel-saving technologies that it hopes to bring to the fighting force. Reason?:
You can’t just pull a M1-A1 battle tank up to filling station in Kandahar. The Army has to ship in all its fuel to keep the vehicles moving — a costly and vulnerable supply line. Fewer shipments means fewer soldiers and contractors potentially in harm’s way.
“In keeping with the nation’s interest in fuel efficiency, renewable power and energy security, TARDEC is fully engaged in ambitious programs that push development of hybrid electric vehicles for U.S. military use,” said TARDEC National Automotive Center Director Paul Skalny. “The organization is also pursuing advanced technologies in areas like energy storage, power and thermal management, robotics, survivability and vehicle platform design that not only benefit our Soldiers, but have commercial applications as well.”
Sounds like sort of a DARPA for tanks.
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