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The US Army received its first M88A2 on 11 Jul 97 as the first eight vehicles were handed off to units in the 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, TX. A total of 46 vehicles were fielded to 1CD by 4QFY99. The first units receiving the 70-ton armored recovery vehicles included the 3rd Squadron, 8th Cavalry and the 215th Forward Support Battalion (FSB) receiving seven and one each respectively. Successfully achieving First Unit Equipped (FUE) represents a critical milestone for any materiel development. For the HERCULES, FUE was accomplished on 31 Jul 97 after the units completed a two and a half week operator and maintenance New Equipment Training (NET) course conducted by the Ordnance Center and School (OC&S) from 14-30 Jul 97.
Starting in early April 1999, PM HERCULES initiated total package fielding of 27 vehicles to 4 ID(M), which is receiving HERCULES vehicles over 7 years prior to original fielding plans. HERCULES will be fielded in Armor Bns (7ea), Regimental Cav Sqdn (7ea), Div Cav Sqdn (5ea), Engineer Bns with Grizzly/Wolverine (2ea), and FSB/MSB (1ea). This requires a total of 629 systems. The Force XXI basis of issue is 6 per Forward Support Company (FSC)/Armor Battalion; 4 per Base Support Company (BSC); 1 per Division Support Battalion, 1 per Division Aviation Support Battalion, 7 per Regimental Cavalry Squadron, and 5 per Division Cavalry Squadron. The total Force XXI requirement is 605.
The M88A2 is being fielded after years of research, development and testing to ensure the system is safe, operable, maintainable and meets user requirements. Admittedly, not all technical concerns had been fully addressed at the time of initial fielding. However, those that had only been partially met placed no high risk to the user. Of particular concern was the loss of traction when towing an Abrams vehicle on slopes under wet and muddy conditions. Towing was restricted to the use of a braking vehicle, while the PMO assessed various tracks to enhance system performance, with improvements to be addressed as a vehicle retrofit.
The M88A2 Traction Enhancement Test teamed engineers from the HERCULES Program Managers office, ATC, and United Defense-Limited Partnership (UDLP). The team was tasked to evaluate proposed changes to the vehicle hardware/suspension that could possibly improve traction of the M88A2 HERCULES and to provide data for input into the modeling effort spearheaded by UDLP. The proposed changes included suspension lockout blocks, re-indexing torsion bars and repositioning of the tow pintle. These changes were designed to enhance the track-to-ground contact and also minimize the squatting effect of the rear of the vehicle during uphill towing. Also, selected track and cleat configurations were evaluated to measure their performance while towing on slopes. The traction enhancement demonstration was conducted at ATC旧 Churchville Test Area (CTA), which is located approximately 12 miles north of Aberdeen Proving Ground near the town of Churchville, MD. This facility is APG旧 hilly cross-country endurance test area and is used to evaluate the durability of power trains, suspensions, and braking systems of test vehicles as they negotiate (ascending and descending) the various steep hills, with grades up to 29 percent. Testing at CTA consisted of operating on various dirt-surfaced longitudinal grades ranging from 20 to 25 percent. The majority of the demonstrations were conducted on the 24 and 25 percent grades. Effective 10 August 1998, the HERCULES was officially approved for single vehicle tow of the Abrams tank and other 70 ton combat vehicles. |
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