Contacts:
NAC - Hal Almand, 810-574-8903
Veridian ERIM-Int'l - Richard Knox, 734-994-1200, ext. 2670
Madison Communications - Neil Jackson, 734-426-2130

Detroit, Mich., Mar. 6, 2000 - - The U.S. Army is exploring some unusual concepts in truck design, acquisition and logistics, and is doing so in cooperation with major U.S. vehicle manufacturers. Objectives include safer, better-performing military trucks, fast adaptation of civilian production to wartime needs, and simplified support - - in short, an improved response to America's defense requirements, all at lower cost to taxpayers.

This development program is called COMBATT, for COMmercially BAsed Tactical Truck. It is sponsored by the Army's National Automotive Center (NAC) and managed by Veridian-ERIM International (Ann Arbor, Mich.). Participating manufacturers are DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co., and AM General.

The first COMBATT demonstration vehicles - - two maximum-performance, off-road pickup trucks and an advanced systems HMMWV - - were unveiled by the NAC today at the opening of the SAE 2000 World Congress in Detroit's Cobo Center.

The problem and the targeted solution.
The Army's million-vehicle fleet is aging. Many trucks are older than their drivers! Beefing up commercial pickup trucks for general cargo and troop carrier use would free more HMMWVs for front-line assignments. By leveraging commercial vehicle technology, the Army aims to maintain a consistently modern, mission-ready vehicle fleet while reducing the costs of development, production and spare parts. The Army is even looking at fleet leasing and contracted logistical support.