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Military vehicle (APC) with connecting trailer. MRAP replacement design concept.

By: Peter_Dow (Diary)  |  August 7th, 2010 at 08:41 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Introducing HUMPBAC – an armoured personnel carrier with a connecting doorway from the rear of the vehicle to walk through into the armoured passenger trailer. Tickets please! 

HUMPBAC
Hinged Under-floor-Mine-Protection Battle-ready Armoured-personnel Carrier
Copyright © Peter Dow, 7th August, 2010. 


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HUMPBAC Features

  • Trailer bolts firmly to the rim of the vehicle forming a rigid joint
  • Rear section of vehicle is hinged to articulate the trailer’s vertical motion
  • Movement of hinged rear section accommodated by a hump in the roof
  • Vehicle rear door can serve as a connecting doorway to the trailer section
  • Front vehicle seats a maximum of 11 people
  • Armoured passenger trailer seats a maximum of 7 people
  • Vehicle with trailer seats a maximum of 18 people
  • Roof mounted remote-controlled machine guns- front, top & tail gun
  • Trailer wheel steering
  • 6-wheel drive
  • Telescopic Rear Axle & Wheels
  • Rotation on the spot
  • Even axle weight distribution
  • 5 : 3 weight & length ratio, 5 (vehicle) : 3 (trailer)
 
 
This is a design concept for a replacement for MRAP armoured personnel carriers
 
Wikipedia wrote: MRAP (armored vehicle)

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are a family of armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED attacks and ambushes. IEDs cause the majority (63%) of US deaths in Iraq.
…
A June 13 report by the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned indicated concerns about MRAP vehicles rolling over in combat zones.

The V-shaped hulls of the MRAP give it a higher center of gravity and the weight of the MRAP can cause the poorly built or maintained roads in rural Iraq or Afghanistan to collapse.

Of the 66 MRAP accidents between Nov. 7, 2007 and June 8, 2008, almost 40 were due to rollovers caused by bad roads, weak bridges, or driver error.

In many of the rollovers troops were injured, and in two separate incidents five soldiers have been killed by rolling over into a canal and getting trapped under water. The report said 75% of all rollovers occurred in rural areas often when the road is above grade and a ditch or canal full of water is next to it.

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  • DONTREADONME

    Why use Wikipedia for information on the MRAP? There are better descriptions of the MRAP performance and reports to be found elsewhere. I am just saying because I can not stand wikipedia for explanations of military hardware. Obviously, the HMMWV had a much worse track record versus the IED than the MRAP; therefore, that is why all HMMWVs are in the fence. Besides, the systems you have above while unique, would have a hard time coming to fruition. Weight and vibration would shake the rail apart, and the weight alone would mean that the system would be a logistical nightmare. It would need its own diesel truck following it.

  • acat

    I don’t see where this shares nearly enough parts with existing vehicles, meaning a whole ‘nother set of spare parts as well as any specialized tools would need to be ordered for every unit deploying the hunchback.

    Use of common parts between vehicles, and use of COTS (Common Off The Shelf) parts greatly increase the flexibility of units deploying different vehicles as well as reducing the cost per vehicle. Design smart, eh?

    The hinge may as well have a bullseye on it. The telescopic rear axle is a clever fix for high speed turns, but is also a potential weak point. Any damage that keeps either from moving properly is a vehicle-kill, and by cramming more personnel into one vehicle, the unavailability of said vehicle for any reason makes it more likely to be a mission-kill.

    If I were to design something, I’d start with the HMMWV frame and drive train, and design a different body to drop onto it. Yes, that means more vehicles to move the same number of personnel, but it also means more interchangeable parts, less training, fewer specialized tools, and more flexibility for the troops on the ground.

    Mew

  • mschmitt

    Also, your axles are showing. Bundles of scrap wire can disable this vehicle (as drawn).

  • http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rice-for-president/ Peter_Dow

    It is a selective quote from Wikipedia which describes the rollover problem which is the same problem whoever describes it.

    There are plenty of underemployed and unemployed design engineers out there who would be only too pleased to get a “hard time” at work bringing these design concepts to fruition.

    For the country who put a man on the moon this is not hard, this is easy.

    The phrase “shake the rail apart” is unknown to me.

    Like other APCs of its class it would be built to withstand mines and IEDs so try shaking it as much you like but it won’t come apart.

    HUMPBAC’s weight and fuel used per passenger delivered would be less than a smaller vehicle such as Oshkosh M-ATV.

    When you hit a mine or an IED, the advantage of a heavier vehicle is that it does not get thrown so violently by the blast.

  • http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rice-for-president/ Peter_Dow

    The telescopic rear axles are drawn in outline only with the understanding that the details still have to be fully designed. That is what the manufacturer will pay their design engineers for.

    This is a concept drawing indicating HUMPBAC’s main features.

    For now, the question is – what are the telescopic rear axles for?

    The answer is, the telescopic rear axles are to allow the driver to set the width between the rear wheels by a variable amount according the priorities of

    * gaining width to achieve lateral stability against the danger of rollover on all terrain
    * losing width to squeeze between narrow gaps on the road

    There is no reason why a telescopic axle cannot be defended against bundles of scrap wire as easily as any other axle.

  • bobbymike

    The vehicle appears much too big for the tight urban street of most Middle Eastern cities requiring early troop dismount and therefore early engagement.