City know-how a lifesaverGENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS: Double-V hulls engineered and installed in London will help Strykers withstand explosions - Thursday, October 14, 2010
https://www.lfpress.com/money/2010/09/30/15539586.html
One of the most dangerous killers in Afghanistan may have met its match in made-in-London know-how.
Now, the U.S. Army is looking to load up on that solution to save soldiers’ lives.
The enemy is the IED — the improvised explosive device, commonly known as the roadside bomb.
The answer is double-V hulls for some of the army’s Stryker armoured vehicles — already partly built in London — to help them withstand severe blasts.
The engineering and installation work for the hulls is being done at Stryker-maker General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, part of one of the world’s largest defence contractors, on Oxford St.
“The work is being done by London engineering staff and you can be proud of that,” said Pete Keeting, vice-president of communications for General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Mich.
“We have talented engineers and they were quick to come up with a solution for the armed forces. There are increased threats. . . . it is all about protecting soldiers.”
The U.S. Army wants 450 Strykers equipped with the double-V hull being engineered at General Dynamics Land Systems.
The armed forces wants the new vehicles deployed by June 2011 and GDLS will start to deliver them by May 2011, completing the order by February 2012, according to a recent report in the Defense News, a U.S. military publication.
“We developed the double-v hull here — our engineering is the driving force behind it,” said Ken Yamashita, spokesperson for GDLS in London.
While manufacturing of the Stryker is shared by GDLS plants in London and the U.S., the London operation builds lower hulls for all Strykers before they’re shipped elsewhere for final assembly, meaning the double-v installation will be in London.
GDLS now has about 600 Strykers on order and the new hulls will be added to those poised to hit the assembly line. It will not be a new order.
While no extra London staff will be needed, about 80 more workers hired this summer will work on the new hulls, said Yamashita.
“It is new production, an improvement the U.S. Army decided on to increase survivability. It is good news for us, for sure,” he said.
Testing will be done on the new design, including explosive live-fire testing, to determine how well the new hull disperses the effects of a blast better than the present design. The vehicle also stands higher off the ground.
“The challenge is to look at the explosive effects on the vehicles and provide them with solutions . . . offering substantial increased protection,” said Keeting.
Engineering and design work has been approved and double-v hull Strykers may hit the London production line by year-end, he added.
The army has been given hull material samples by GDLS that were “blast tested” during this summer and continuing this fall.
The next Stryker brigade deploys to Afghanistan in July 2011 and the army wants them ready for that tour.
In total, developing the Strykers and doing research and development work will cost about $300 million, Defense News said.
GDLS makes 10 different versions of the Stryker, of which the double-V hull will be integrated into eight.