AHED technology demonstrated in UK
CHRISTOPHER F FOSS JDW Land Forces Editor
Bovington, Southern England
·The GDLS AHED is seen as a strong contender for the British Army's FRES programme
·GDLS claims that hybrid electric drive and hybrid steering gives the AHED tracked performance in a wheeled platform
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has demonstrated its 8 x 8 Advanced Hybrid Electric Drive (AHED) technology test bed to senior UK capability and procurement officials.
The move comes ahead of the expected award by the UK Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) of two 18-month Technology Demonstrator Programme (TDP) contracts to evaluate chassis options under the Initial Assessment Phase of the British Army's Future Rapid Effect System (FRES). Of these, one is expected to be wheeled and the other tracked, with GDLS, BAE Systems Land Systems and Giat Industries of France in competition.
AHED is seen as a strong contender for the wheeled chassis options TDP. While the current AHED was designed to meet the requirement for it to be fully airportable in a C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft, according to GDLS its weight can be scaled to 30 tonnes with the same mobility level.
It was expected that one of the key FRES requirements would be that FRES must be air transportable in a C-130, but this has recently changed with the A400M and C-17 aircraft now dictating the weight and size of FRES.
The AHED 8 x 8 was developed from 1999 with funding from the US Army's National Automotive Center (NAC) and GDLS, with the aim of evaluating hybrid electric propulsion system technologies for use in the US Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS).
According to GDLS, the in-hub permanent Magnet Motor technology is mature and now ready for the FRES Main Gate. With sufficient funding it could meet the Initial Operating Capability goal of 2010.
A conventional MTU 6V199B diesel, developing 400 kW, and drive train take up a considerable amount of internal volume in a typical wheeled armoured vehicle. The integration of a hybrid electric drive (HED) with the in-hub motor technology frees up a considerable amount of space for increased payload as well as making the overall size of the platform smaller. GDLS claims that HED, together with its hybrid steering, gives the AHED track performance in a wheeled platform along with wheeled fleet life cycle costs.
The HED architecture allows the vehicle to operate in the all-electric stealth mode, battery only or a combination of these. It also features an air suspension system for improved ride across country and has 0.45 m of travel including height, pitch and roll control.
According to Bill Riker of GDLS, the AHED is "only at the start of its growth potential" and is already at Technical Readiness Level 7 (TRL). A number of potential improvements have been identified and are being worked on, including reduced cost of batteries. To date, the AHED has undergone more than 4,100 km of road and cross-country testing and another 4,500 km will be clocked up under the TDP.
GDLS owns most of the intellectual property rights for the AHED design so, unlike some other programmes, technology transfer from the US is not expected to be a major problem. If the company is successful in the FRES programme, it may well have to co-operate with the UK's sole remaining armoured vehicle contractor, BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons and Vehicles). It could, however, start a new facility from scratch as it did with the Bowman tactical communications system, using other UK subcontractors on the programme.
Under contract to the US Marine Corps GDLS has also completed prototypes of the 3.62-tonne Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Targeting Vehicle (RST-V), which can be carried inside a V-22 or CH-53. This also features an in-hub drive system using permanent Magnet Motors.
UK MoD alters FRES parameters (jdw.janes.com, 15/06/05)
xttp://www2.janes.com/janesdata/mags/jdw/history/jdw2005/images/p1116271.jpg
General Dynamics Land Systems AHED 8 x 8 being put through its paces
(Source: C F Foss)
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While the current General Dynamics Land Systems AHED 8 x 8 is optimised for a FRES-type requirement, it has plenty of growth potential
(Source: C F Foss)
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Artist's impression of some of the possible combat and support applications of the General Dynamics Land Systems AHED 8 x 8
(Source: GDLS)
