Scorpion89
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Aberdeen tests military's Cougar - baltimoresun.com
As it rumbled down a steep hill at the Aberdeen Test Center, the huge armored troop carrier hit a bump and briefly caught air. Thanks to a modified suspension, the 22-ton truck did not land with a bone-jarring clatter. Instead, its knobby front tires seemed to glide back to the dirt road.
"That speed would almost definitely bend the axles on the original suspension," automotive engineer Adam Vittum shouted over the engine noise. "We would all be in a lot of pain and very possibly have broken something on the vehicle." No danger of that now, he noted, given the cushiony independent suspension: "It feels like nothing."
A comfier ride is one benefit of the $160,000-per-vehicle retrofit. The main purpose, though, is to keep these Cougar vehicles rolling across rocky, hilly Afghanistan, where the U.S. military is stepping up its fight against a resurgent Taliban.
Very interesting article, I recall a visit a few months ago when they had two of these in the overhaul building being worked on.
As it rumbled down a steep hill at the Aberdeen Test Center, the huge armored troop carrier hit a bump and briefly caught air. Thanks to a modified suspension, the 22-ton truck did not land with a bone-jarring clatter. Instead, its knobby front tires seemed to glide back to the dirt road.
"That speed would almost definitely bend the axles on the original suspension," automotive engineer Adam Vittum shouted over the engine noise. "We would all be in a lot of pain and very possibly have broken something on the vehicle." No danger of that now, he noted, given the cushiony independent suspension: "It feels like nothing."
A comfier ride is one benefit of the $160,000-per-vehicle retrofit. The main purpose, though, is to keep these Cougar vehicles rolling across rocky, hilly Afghanistan, where the U.S. military is stepping up its fight against a resurgent Taliban.
Very interesting article, I recall a visit a few months ago when they had two of these in the overhaul building being worked on.
