At a ceremony held last month in the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development & Engineering Center (TARDEC) Technology Display Area, MRAP Product Manager for Vehicle Systems (PdM VS) LTC Elliott Caggins recognized 27 TARDEC associates for their support on the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) spall liner repair kit initiative.
Joined by TARDEC's Acting Executive Director for Systems Integration & Engineering Dr. Bruce Brendle, other Center for Systems Integration (CSI) leaders, PM MRAP and PdM VS Product Manager LTC Elliott Caggins congratulated the team for their contributions.
"TARDEC has been an excellent partner in supporting the MRAP program with the M-ATV spall repair development, testing and production that impacts our multiple RESET operations. TARDEC offers an abundant amount of expertise and capability, which resides in our own backyard, and we intend to work more closely with TARDEC to provide capability to the MRAP fleet of vehicles."
Before presenting each associate with a certificate of appreciation, PdM VS Lead Systems Engineer Robert Pietrandrea took a few minutes to talk about the importance of this integration effort, and the tremendous effort that the engineers put forth to make it a success.
"The M-ATV spall delamination became a real issue that negatively impacted our ability to complete reset of M-ATV vehicles. The M-ATV team's number one priority was to procure, produce and deliver spall repair kits as quickly as possible to help RESET," stated Pietrandrea. "Both the organic and private industrial base were brought on to deliver spall repair kits. However, their best delivery schedules did not meet the program's needs. TARDEC understood this challenge and proactively developed and provided a plan to PdM VS on how to fill the spall repair kit production gap until the organic and private sector organizations could start delivering kits. As a result, the TARDEC spall repair kits were produced and delivered to reset sites three months earlier than other kit suppliers."
The M-ATV comes equipped with a spall liner which provides increased survivability protection. Due to the extreme environment the M-ATV is exposed to, the spall liners become subject to damage and require replacement. TARDEC developed a spall repair kit which includes a "rhino lined" exterior layer that protects the spall material from the environment and mitigates the risk of damage.
In addition to TARDEC's production, CSI's Technical Data Package was transitioned to Rock Island Arsenal for production purposes and Rock Island Arsenal engineers started to deliver spall repair kits in early May 2015. TARDEC and Rock Island Arsenal spall repair kits are now being shipped to Red River Army Depot, Oshkosh Defense, Leghorn Army Depot and Kuwait to support ongoing M-ATV repairs.
"The TARDEC spall repair kits were the first kits delivered to all the previously mentioned sites and TARDEC consistently exceeded their production delivery schedule." remarked Pietrandrea. Production in support of the M-ATV spall liner effort is scheduled to continue through the end of the fiscal year, but may be extended to meet current RESET operation requirements.
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