petop

 

Sort of agree on the tyres, they could have a more aggressive x country tyre fitted however when that rain started on PT2 there wasn't much that wasn't getting stuck, I had no real dramas with my SVR and I put a lot down to blokes unwillingness to get out of the wagons and walk the route. SV/SVR fleet left on the road??? I take it you were CSS then as the roads were the last place you wanted to be on during that rain, I always advised the drivers of bogged wagons to pick a route X country in order to complete their journey as the roads/tracks were often impassable. I also pulled out a few IM Fodens as well so swings and roundabouts, that said I always been of the opinion that if they had based the Foden 6x6 recovery around the drops 4 axle chassis then things could have been different.

The "Canada Problem" was known about at start of SV deployment to BATUS. I say Canada Problem as its not just the tyres but the clay/mud you get in BATUS. We didnt have any dramas during trials of SV until we got them out to Canada. THe tyres on all except the SV® are of a different type and profile. Not going into detail but we wanted the SV® tyres on the fleet wide. I have just come back from a 7 month tour of Afghanistan and all the SV fleet is performing well, SV® more so. I have seen SV's being brought back after IED strikes and the truck is wrecked to say the least and the guys inside have survived. Dont listen to stories about electrical gremlins!

I saw a new Iveco 6x6 tipper with Atlas loading grab crane on the M1 yesterday. Are the British army buying Ivecos???

Yes we are.

Weird looking, I wonder if they are Signals vehicles. They all look like civi pattern Land rovers with wolf wheels/tyres. Bet they're pricey. Eufor, they've obviously just come from Kosovo, nice.

I saw those exact vehicles in Banja Luka about 2004. There was a Signals det with these Bae stickered vehicles outside their Corimec Offices.

Driven all the MAN variants, some more (1000km+) than others. As for HEMTT, had a good look round one but the PLS version is very inferior to our version. Yes it has a BIG engine, but the type of gearbox saps a lot of power and looses more importantly torque.

The PLS has a payload reduction as soon as it goes x-country, which sort of defeats the object, certainly compared to ours.

I have driven the Oshkosh PLS (slightly different to the HEMTT PLS and it is a good vehicle, and can carry full load x-country, but i would still opt for the MAN variant, just not the one we bought(!) but the SX version with full independent suspension.

Im not fully clued up on the SV® as my area of expertise on the trials team was not this vehicle but others.

Someone mentioned the Commander in Aldershot. Its a Gate Guardian at Gale Bks. Now this has been told to me, but rumour is that they decided to see if it would still start recently and after a bit of checking it fired up. Been there for a fair bit as well.

The question is as platforms The MAN V HEMTT which is better, it would appear that both are doing well in the conditions of Afganistan, HEMTT A4 the upgraded vershion has the C-15 500hp engine with a Allison 4500SP/5 speed auto compared to the MAN engine and 12 Speed auto. I would be intrested in your opinion as to there performance while on trials. As to the recovery side after looking at a number of different options the UK package to me strikes the right balance without geting into a construction size crane.

It also appears to be a lot more soldier freindly then any of the vershions produced by Oshkosh.

What size crane did the Foden have and make?

The only down side is that there is no room for a crew cab or space to carry the crew from the disabled vehicle, could this be rectifide by relocating CES bins?

At some stage in the next 10 years our armys will start to down size again and these vehicles may come up for auction.

The SV® does not have a 12 speed gearbox. The SV Cargo variants do, a 12 speed full auto or semi auto gearbox and very good it is as well. The SX variants, which the SV® is based on is a fully auto 6 speed gearbox. Not sure if you are mentioning SV® when you mention lack of room, but SV® has quite a bit of space and seating. The trials team were made up of ex-REME Reccy Mechs and serving, so what went in/on it was supported.

I hear that the Aus Army are looking very closely at MAN trucks at the moment.

Been away from the forum for a bit and saw this thread.

The MAN SV® will take on most other recovery vehicles and beat them. There are bigger (read that lift more) vehicles out there but then with all the additional equiptment and ease of use of the SV® then it puts it above them. It is out in Afghanistan and is getting used. I know how its getting on out there and there are things that are getting improved on as its being used, after all it was urgently required out there, so soon after getting into service so there will be teething problems. Bit overall its well recieved.

It is Perm 4 Wheel Drive. The big lever sticking out of the dash is the Hi and Low. The button, if i can remember maybe tranverse diff or inter axle.

They were to be replaced by Future Light Equipment Transporter (FLET). This is now on hold so the Sed Atk will soldier on a little longer.

Militant,

The 6x6 Tanker variant you drove is the Unit Support Tanker with SX chassis..full independant suspension and auto gearbox. Not many of them and yes, they do use buttons to operate gearbox.

The majority of the Tankers are 6x6 with HX chassis and rotary gear selector with semi-auto gearbox.

There are 6x6 cargos, and between me and a few of us knowledgeable in the SV trials team...we should of bought more!!

Damn, I'm a computer biff, they show up on mine??? Help lol.

The first one you did outside a civvy type garage appeared but others havnt

Reccy, you need to redo photos...not showing up

The buttons shown are..

all wheel drive

front diff

rear diff

interaxle.

The vehicle does has a PTO button but not near the diff buttons. The vehicle is actually this one....

Taken at TRL test track in Surrey at a Transport Select Committee demo. Was asked to take MP's around the track, managed to get a photo from one of the press photographers after the demo was finished.

All the SV MAN's have rotary gear selector apart from the SX and Recovery versions which have a full auto gearbox with button select gearmodes.

The truck in the picture is a HX 9t with 6 wheeled drive.

This is what the MAN looks like inside. Although this is one of the 1st trial/prototype trucks we had. Hence the stickers on the switches i put on to tell me what everything did!!

Glad you like it, i didnt do much with it on the SV trials as it was someone elses bag, you probably know him (SB). But i was on a meeting other day and was told its going well in Afghan.

One of the trials i did with the new FuelRack on back of IM DROPS and SV®. We were doing weighbridge stuff.

OK, maybe I assumed too much from the litle bit of information I have.

 

I'm a truck mechanic at a MAN dealer. I got sent to Ashchurch for a while because they needed someone with an HGV licence to drive the new trucks in and out of the workshop. Even though it is private land, the army insist on anyone driving a vehicle on the depot roads having the correct licence.

 

One of my jobs was to drive a wrecker to another building to "have the armour fitted". I parked it outside and walked in to tell them it was there.

I never actually saw any vehicles enter or leave the building, they obviously weren't churning them out the way we were with the PDIs, although there was one bar armoured MAN parked outside.

 

If the armour is fitted at NP Aerospace, then maybe the guys at Ashchurch were doing some sort of preliminary work ready to have it fitted. I'm only going on what I was told and what looked like a Mastiff having armour fitted in their workshop.

 

I was told the windscreen story by one of the other MAN mechanics. Two other guys were with us and laughed about the two passengers getting soaked as the water came in. I don't think any of them were at DVD, they must have heard from someone who was.

MAN do have a "garage" there and can do repair/PDI work. The ballistic armour is Austrian but the Bar armour is fitted by NP. The Bar armour involves a lot of drilling!! So it was maybe this that MAN were doing, like you said, prelimary stuff.

recymech, what you think of them??

OPSEC stuff aside.

One of the trial or training vehicles i think.

How wide is "too wide" My M746 is 10' wide and my old ANTAR was 10'6 have never had a problem driving them on normal roads after submitting the obligatory movement order, can't see why there is all the extra expense to the taxpayer for low loader costs ?

John.

The view is restricted due to the Bar Amour. Its not the Ballistic Armour that makes it illegal, its the Bar that is bolted on. It restricts drivers view etc. They get low-loaded to training areas then are used on there.

MAN with Ballistic Armour

MAN with Ballistic and Bar....and its me driving it on a Press Day.

The armour is fitted at Ashchurch. They get driven in, but I don't know if they get driven or low loadered out.

I've heard conflicting reports of the price now. They may only be £650k for the standard wrecker and £1m for the armoured version.

I've also heard that one entered the wading area a bit fast at the DVD show. The bow wave travelled across the pond, hit the far bank, bounced back, hit the front of the truck and pushed the windscreens out of their rubbers flooding the cab.

The armour is not fitted at Aschurch. Some of it is fitted at NP Aerospace. Low loaded everywhere. Its not just the armour that adds the cost, its the other stuff that makes it the "Operational variant" that adds to the price.

Not too sure about the DVD story, i have been to the last 3 and didnt hear of it. It would of happened last year if it did, although its been around Millbrook on a few press days. But knowing the MAN Test Driver, i can well believe he managed to get it to do that!! I tried to keep up with him in a SX MAN 9t Cargo, which is a improved x-country version of the bog standard MAN truck, and i found it hard when he was in the Recovery version.

I can help. Ill see what i can do.

There will never be a need for them to be driven around UK roads fully uparmoured complete with Bar armour under normal circumstances, I take it you work in one of the Trails and Development units.

 

Also I very much doubt a collector would get his hands on any of the new Armour.:nono:

Yes you are right about them not seeing fully armoured SV® but the training required prior to deployment on any of the SV fully armoured means you get to drive them on certain training areas and never on normal roads. Its a training issue more than anything.

I have been known to fre-quent certain TDU's!:drive:

Because they are too wide. When we move them we use mil police escort otherwise its a low loader. With all the grills in front of the windscreen, armoured glass etc its a nightmare to drive on UK small roads.

The front axles are coil sprung, the rears are hydraulic.

The chassis is box section.

Cost new, £700 000, fully armoured, £1.2 million

Just a shame you wont be able to buy it fully armoured as they are not road legal in UK!