New European military trucks part 2
A heavy equipment transport kit with a four-axle Scania R650 8×4 HET tractor, the first paramilitary vehicle of this type from the Scania XT family, was handed over to the Danish armed forces in January.
The COVID-19 epidemic this year has led to the cancellation of most of this year's military equipment and car shows, and some companies have been forced to refuse to show their latest products to potential recipients and media representatives. This, of course, influenced the official presentations of the new military motorization, including heavy and medium class trucks. However, there is no lack of information about new buildings and contracts concluded, and the following review is based on them.
The review covers the offerings of Swedish Scania, German Mercedes-Benz and French Arquus. A few years ago, the first company managed to receive an important order for its work in the market from the Danish Ministry of Defense. Mercedes-Benz introduces new versions of Arocs trucks to the market. On the other hand, Arquus has introduced brand new Armis vehicles that will replace the Sherpa family of vehicles in its offering.
Danish HET class kits - for oversized transport - can transport all modern heavy combat vehicles in road conditions and over light terrain.
Scania
The main recently released news from the Swedish concern is related to the supply of additional trucks for the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Danish Ministry of Defense's contacts with Scania have a long history, and their last chapter begins in 1998, when the company entered into a five-year contract with the Danish Armed Forces for the supply of heavy vehicles. In 2016, Scania submitted a final bid, launched in 2015, for the largest military truck purchase in Danish history to date, with around 900 vehicles in 13 versions and variants. In January 2017, Scania was announced as the winner of the competition and in March the company signed a seven-year framework agreement with FMI (Forsvarsministeriets Materielog Indkøbsstyrelses, Procurement and Logistics Agency of the Ministry of Defense). Also in 2017, under a framework agreement, FMI placed an order with Scania for 200 military trucks and 100 paramilitary variants of typical civilian vehicles. At the end of 2018, the first cars - incl. civilian road tractors - handed over to the recipient. Definition of specifications, ordering new vehicles, construction and delivery are carried out through or under the supervision of the FMI. In total, by 2023, the armed forces and services of Denmark, subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, should receive at least 900 road and off-road wheeled vehicles of the Scandinavian brand. This major order includes a very wide range of options for all branches of the armed forces. These options belong to the so-called Fifth generation, the first representatives of which - road versions - were introduced at the end of August 2016 and very quickly replenished with specialized and specialized models belonging to the XT family. Among the ordered cars there are also premiere versions made specifically under the contract. For example, militarized heavy semi-trailers and ballast tractors from the XT family are such a novelty, available only in civilian order picking so far.
On January 23, 2020, FMI and the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Denmark received the 650th Scania truck. This commemorative copy was one of the three premiere heavy tractor-ballast tractors of the XT family, which received the designation R8 4 × 8 HET. Together with trailers, Broshuis will have to create kits for transporting heavy loads, primarily tanks and other combat vehicles. They are characterized by a configuration with axles in a single front position and a tridem rear position. The rear tridem is formed by a front pusher axle with wheels turned in the same direction as the front steered wheels and a rear tandem axle. All axles received a full air suspension. However, the drive system in the 4xXNUMX formula means that this variant has a maximum of medium tactical mobility. As a result, the vehicle can be used primarily for transporting goods on paved roads and only for short trips on unpaved roads.
It is driven by a V-shaped (90 °) 8-cylinder diesel engine with a volume of 16,4 liters, with a cylinder diameter and piston stroke of 130 and 154 mm, respectively. The engine has: turbocharging, charge air cooling, four valves per cylinder, Scania XPI high pressure injection system and meets the emission standard up to Euro 6 thanks to the combination of Scania EGR + SCR systems (exhaust gas recirculation plus selective catalytic reduction). . In tractors for Denmark, the engine is called DC16 118 650 and has a maximum power of 479 kW/650 hp. at 1900 rpm and a maximum torque of 3300 Nm in the range of 950÷1350 rpm. In the transmission, in addition to the gearbox, reinforced, two-stage axles with differential locks, supplemented by an inter-axle lock, are installed.
The R650 8×4 HET comes with the R Highline cab, which is long, with a high roof and therefore very large in capacity. As a result, in comfortable conditions, they can take on board the crew of a car transported on a semi-trailer. In addition, there is plenty of space for the driver and for special equipment. In the future, copies will be purchased complete with an armored cab, most likely using the so-called. stealth armor. The kit also includes: a special 3,5-inch saddle; access platform above tridem axles; a portable folding ladder and a wardrobe closet, closed on both sides with plastic covers, stylistically corresponding to the appearance of the cabins. This cabinet contains, among other things: tanks for pneumatic and hydraulic installations, lockable boxes for tools and other equipment below, winches, and below a large-capacity fuel tank. The permissible total weight of the kit can be up to 250 kg.
These tractors are aggregated with the new military semi-trailers of the Dutch company Broshuis. These trailers were presented to the public for the first time at the Bauma construction fair in Munich in April 2019. These plus 70 class low bed semi-trailers are prepared for road and off-road transport of very heavy military equipment, including mainly tanks weighing more than 70 kg. Their base load capacity was determined at 000 kg. To do this, they, in particular, as many as eight axles with a rated load of up to 80 kg each. These are independently suspended swinging axles of the pendulum system (PL000). The latest version of the Broshuis oscillating axle on civilian semi-trailer models was presented in September 12 in Hannover at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show. These axles are characterized by: improved quality and durability, independent suspension, steering function and a very large individual stroke, up to 000 mm, well compensating almost all the unevenness of dirt roads. In connection with the desire to improve the maneuverability of semi-trailers, including reducing the turning radius, they are turned - from eight rows, the first three in the same direction as the front wheels of the tractor, and the last four - counter-rotating. Only the middle - the fourth row of the axle is deprived of the steering function. In addition, an independent power plant with a diesel engine was mounted on the jib to power the onboard hydraulics.
The semi-trailer has already achieved significant market success with Denmark placing an order for 50 units and the US Army for 170. In both cases, Broshuis acts as a subcontractor, since the original contracts were for transport kits and were awarded to tractor manufacturers. For the US Army, Oshkosh is the original supplier.
The Dutch emphasize that in partnership with Scania they have made significant progress in the implementation of previous orders. Scania's contract with the Danish Armed Forces is for the supply of four types of specialized low loader semi-trailers, including three with pendulum axles. In addition to the eight-axle version, there are two- and three-axle options. Added to this is the only variation without a pendulum system - an eight-axle combination with a front three-axle bogie and five axles at the rear.
On May 18, 2020, information was published that - under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense - the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA, Beredskabsstyrelsen) took over the first of 20 new Scania XT G450B 8x8 trucks. This delivery, like the R650 8×4 HET heavy tractors, is carried out under the same contract for the supply of 950 vehicles.
In DEMA, cars will play the role of heavy off-road and support vehicles. All of them refer to the off-road version of the XT G450B 8×8. Their four-axle chassis is characterized by a reinforced traditional frame with spars and cross members, all-wheel drive and two steerable front axles and tandem rear axles. The maximum technical axle loads are 2 × 9000 2 kg at the front and 13 × 000 4 kg at the rear. The fully mechanical suspension of all axles uses parabolic leaf springs - 28x4 mm for the front axles and 41x13 mm for the rear axles. The drive is provided by the Scania DC148-13 engine - 6-litre, 331,2-cylinder, in-line, with a maximum power of 450 kW/2350 hp. and a maximum torque of 6 Nm, complying with the Euro 14 environmental standard thanks to the "only SCR" technology. Drive is transmitted by a 905-speed GRSO2 gearbox with two crawler gears and a fully automatic Opticruise shifting system, as well as a 20-speed transfer case that distributes torque continuously between the front and rear axles. Longitudinal and transverse differential locks were used - between the wheels and between the axles. The drive axles are two-stage - with a reduction in wheel hubs and with single tires to maintain high tactical mobility. In addition, there is a power take-off for driving external devices. The Scania CG2L cab is an all-metal mid-height flat-roof sleeper cab for XNUMX people – with driver and passenger seats and a large storage compartment for personal belongings.
