Badenoch vehicle back in the news

Georgia Tech's military vehicle prototype worked its way back into the news courtesy of Aviation Week, Military.com and Bettina Chavanne--complete with sensational headline: "Farewell JLTV? So long MRAP?"

Here's the gist of the story:

The vehicle I'm talking about was developed by the George Tech Research Institute (GTRI) with funding from the Office of Naval Research. It's called the Badenoch Vehicle, or the ULTRA AP (Armored Patrol). It's been around a few years -- since 2005, in fact, and one of the inventors, Scott Badenoch, has spoken on the Hill about his vehicle. The ULTRA AP was unveiled in Sept. 2005 at the Modern Day Marine Expo in Quantico, Virginia. According to its write-up in the November 2005 GTRI newsletter, the ULTRA AP "emphasizes high-output diesel power combined with advanced armor and a fully modern chassis."

A recent mention of the ULTRA AP in a Feb. 2008 Defense Science Board report on DOD energy strategy could propel the vehicle back into the spotlight. Some of the blog posts I've read criticize Badenoch's comments -- he's said Humvees are dangerous when they're up-armored because they're so heavy. He has claimed the possibility of roll-overs makes the vehicles very dangerous to soldiers. And since he's promoting his own vehicle, it smells a little like conflict of interest. But I'm not focused on that so much as the legitimacy I think the DSB report gives to this vehicle, singling it out as a viable option for a "blast bucket" light armored ground vehicle.
(Military.com)

I find it extremely likely that the technologically savvy companies vying for the JLTV contracts have already incorporated some basic features of the Badenoch vehicle. The first order of business for those companies, however, is to meet the requirements of the contract. It's up to the Pentagon to establish requirements for the use of alternative energy sources. The competitors have no particular reason to stray from those parameters, though it is plausible that successful anticipation of a later Pentagon requirement would provide an edge in the competition.

More on the Badenoch vehicle.

clipped from gtresearchnews.gatech.edu

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