Conference repair::reserve_forces

41.0. "Supacat: the British Army's new ATMP" by SAC::PHILPOTT_I (Col I F 'Tsingtao Dhum' Philpott) Mon Dec 04 1989 16:08

Yesterday I spent a day on Salisbury plain, "playing" with a military ATMP.

I enclose a few notes from the 4WD conference for your edification. However I 
also enclose the manufacturers "blurb" for the military version:

"Military

Supacat is a six-wheeled cross-country vehicle capable of carrying a ton or more
over rough ground, steep slopes, boggy ground, sand etc. As it is Ackerman
steered as well as skid steered, it is also able to travel at up to 30 mph on
hard surfaces. It is able to float with a limited load, and can be fitted with 
tracks for use in deep snow.

After competitive trials, it was chosen by the Ministry of Defence as their
ATMP (All Terrain Mobile Platform) and is now in service with the British Army.

Designed to be air portable, Supacats can be stacked for transport in C130, the
stacking being done by using the ramps which are carried by each vehicle and 
which enable one to drive onto another. Two Supacats are cleared for single hook
underslinging below Chinook and Blackhawk, with the possibility of an additional
pair under Chinook. A pair of Supacats can be air dropped on a medium stressed
platform.

Each vehicle carries an electric winch which in conjunction with the ramps, 
allows it to self load air-dropped pallets. The same ramps may also be used 
for ditch crossing.

Extensive trials have been carried out using the vehicle for towing the Light 
Gun.

Supacats can be used as platforms for a variety of weapons. In particular they
have been used as a platform for firing 60mm and 81mm mortars, without need for
stabilisation.

In ATMP specification, the vehicles are load carrying platforms, without any
enclosure. Enclosed bodies, either hard or soft topped, can be fitted and are 
in use in a number of roles including duties on ranges.

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You can own your own for about 30,000 pounds...

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              <<< NUTLET::NOTES$DISK:[NOTES$LIBRARY]4WD.NOTE;4 >>>
                               -< 4 Wheel Drive >-
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Note 982.0         Supacat - the ultimate wheeled off-roader?          4 replies
SAC::PHILPOTT_I "Col I F 'Tsingtao Dhum' Philpott"   74 lines  28-NOV-1989 01:35
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I thought of putting this in the oddities note, but on reflection it isn't odd,
it's terribly practical.

A little history: the Supacat is one of two vehicles that owe their inspiration 
to the Falklands/Malvinas conflict. At that time the British troops had a 
problem - everything with wheels, including LandRovers - got bogged down in the
freezing marshland on which they were trying to move supplies and troops.

Two vehicles came from this [the other is the Esarco which is larger] and both 
have more than 4 wheels (the Esarco has either 6 or 8 depending on the model). 
The British Army put out an invitation to supply test vehicles for a contract
for specialty transports and the Supacat was one of the entries. At that time 
the vehicle was being built by Fairey Engineering, but when Esarco got the 
contract the designers carried through a management buy-out and went into 
business on their own (Fairey weren't, and indeed aren't, interested in the 
civilian specialty vehicle market). Recently the Army put out another 
specification and this time Supacat won. So far the Army have 15 of them which 
are being used by the SAS. More will follow. 

The spec was for an "All Terrain Mobile Platform" that would carry two soldiers 
plus half a ton of cargo, that could be air dropped (either conventional 
parachute or being "sled dropped" out of the back of a Hercules at 50') traverse
'military standard marshland' climb or descend or traverse a 60� slope...

So what is the Supacat: it comes in three basic body styles: the military 
platform has no windshield, no upper bodywork, for weak civilians they'll fit a
windshield and either a soft or hard top (though since they bolt on you can 
remove them). The vehicle is 10' long, 6' wide and 3' high and essentially flat 
decked: the crew of two sit in shallow 'saucers' at the front (the tops of the 
seat cushion is about level with the vehicle's hull), and there is a cargo well 
at the back with a drop down tailgate. The dash board raises slightly above the 
flat platform hull.

It has 6 wheels: Avon TredLite 31x15.5R15 low ground pressure tires are fitted 
to Land Rover axle/swivel assemblies. There is no spring suspension - the low 
pressure tires providing the "give" in the system (this should appeal to the 
macho types who argue for cart springs over coils - this suspension makes cart 
springs seem soft! :-). The underbody is protected by a full hull of 5mm thick 
military armor (which makes the vehicle proof against anti-personnel mines, so 
it should handle the occasional boulder or tree stump OK :-)

Power is currently a 1600 cc Volkswagen diesel, though a 1800 cc Ford diesel 
will replace it soon. 

Steering is "different" to say the least: firstly there is no steering wheel - 
instead there is a motor bike style handle-bar. Turning the bar turns the front 
four wheels in conventional Ackerman steering style. A footbrake controls the 
outboard disc brakes on all 6 wheels, and a heel operated throttle is provided 
for on road use (The vehicle has a three speed automatic transmission, and is 
rated as an agricultural vehicle for British licencing purposes). Off road there
is a hand throttle on the right hand hand-grip. Now the novelty: the wheels also
have inboard disc brakes and hand brake levers on the handle-bar allow skid 
steering, which also allows you to brake the wheels on one side if they are 
spinning and to "see-saw" the power from side to side to get grip in extreme 
situations. The result of this composite steering is that the vehicle will turn 
within its own length virtually (it can be turned round in a 15' square space 
for example).

It exceeded specs: it will carry 1 ton, tow 4 tons, it can climb or descend a 
75� slope and can be turned around or traverse on a 65� slope. (how are your 
nerves?). Whilst it doesn't float it can be driven through water that doesn't 
come over the 'gunwhales' of the hull - ie 3' deep, and possibly deeper 
(provided you don't drown the driver). This vehicle gives the lie to the old 
adage that you should spy out the land on foot before driving the difficult 
bits - this vehicle will drive places you wouldn't want to try and walk!

If anybody is interested I can try and find the maker's address. I guess this
would make the ultimate support vehicle for a hunting/fishing/camping trip in
the Rockies or the New England Woods.

/. Ian .\

PS: I'm hoping to get a test drive this weekend!
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Note 982.1         Supacat - the ultimate wheeled off-roader?             1 of 4
AIMHI::DWYER "Greg, MKO1, 264-8070, DMO/FDG"          9 lines  28-NOV-1989 09:43
                        -< A slightly jealous reply... >-
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    > PS: I'm hoping to get a test drive this weekend!
    
    Ian, opportunities such as this might lead us to believe you live a
    charmed life!	>;v)
    
    Let us know more...
    
    Greg
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Note 982.2         Supacat - the ultimate wheeled off-roader?             2 of 4
SAC::PHILPOTT_I "Col I F 'Tsingtao Dhum' Philpott"   25 lines  29-NOV-1989 01:09
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    �Ian, opportunities such as this might lead us to believe you live a
    �charmed life!

The SAS Vehicle Testing & Evaluation department has its office down the
corridor from the department I work for on my reserve assignments - sometimes
being a patriotic soul has its benefits :-)

To expand and correct a few of the remarks in the base note:

1) the vehicle was inspired by (and looks rather like) the Canadian Argocat.

2) the hull is in fact fully sealed and buoyant: the vehicle floats in water
so you won't swamp it by going into too deep water as I suggested. However the 
tires fitted don't give 'traction' in water like those on the Argocat, so you 
either have to run a winch line over the river you want to ford, or fit a 
couple of outboard motors to the tailgate of the vehicle (not joking - that's
what I'm told the SAS do...)

3) the inner radius turning circle in Ackerman mode (not using the skid 
steering) is 9 metres (about 30 feet). If you think that's good, then bear in
mind that with both skid steering and the Ackerman steering used together the 
turning radius is 50 centimetres - the vehicle pivots about a point between the 
centre and rear wheels!

/. Ian .\
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Note 982.3         Supacat - the ultimate wheeled off-roader?             3 of 4
SAC::PHILPOTT_I "Col I F 'Tsingtao Dhum' Philpott"   39 lines   4-DEC-1989 02:46
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Well I spent yesterday playing with a Supacat. We went to Salisbury Plain (a
military area used for tank testing among other things) and had 4 Supacats to
play with - Christmas came 4 weeks early :-)

The SAS and the military engineers had built a course (the RE Captain was quite
amused at having me - a Colonel in his own Corps - as a guest, I think he 
secretly hoped I'd chicken out).

They started us out at dawn with the first exercise: they'd taken a large
tank trap filled with soil and churned it into mud about 2 feet thick then used
the overnight frost to put a thin crust of frozen mud on the top and driven a 
Land Rover onto it until the ice cracked and the Landy was stuck up to the 
chassis in mud. Then with our expert drivers at the controls we took two 
Supacats out to the stuck vehicle and towed it out. Once moving one 'cat let
go and the other completed the retrieve whilst the other "gave covering fire".

After that we got to learn to drive the beasts. 3 hours of driving it around
modest obstacle courses. One thing learned was that often the best approach to
a very tight spot was to take off the 6 point seat belt harness and literally
stand up so you could get a maximum view (you could lean over front and side 
far enough to look straight down at the ground whilst still keeping both hands 
on the handle bars and using the hand throttle and brake levers.

After an excellent lunch we went out to try it on a cross country course that 
included a 60� climb, a couple of very steep drops, a river to ford, and a
"trackless stretch" of woodland. Terrain ranged from muddy to rock hard and 
obstacles included boulders and tree stumps.

I won't say these things are unstoppable - one crew got high centred and had to
be goten off the tree stump by judicious jacking and putting brushwood under 
the wheels. One got waterborne in the river ford and nearly floated down to the 
sea. The rest of us benefited from that by stringing a static line first and 
clipping ourselves to it. With that to hold us from going sideways the tread on 
the tires generates just enough "traction" to get us over the river. However we 
got them through, over and round obstacles that would have stopped any normal 
4x4.

/. Ian .\

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Note 982.4         Supacat - the ultimate wheeled off-roader?             4 of 4
SAC::PHILPOTT_I "Col I F 'Tsingtao Dhum' Philpott"   45 lines   4-DEC-1989 04:42
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This vehicle *is* available in the US through a Canadian company: ODG of
Ontario.

However it ain't cheap! the following prices are British prices in pounds
sterling. In the UK you have to pay 15% tax on top of this...

Vehicle (basic)								27560

extras:

winch kit complete							  877
ramps									  560
bilge pumps								   95
NATO tow hitch (must have H/D tailgate)					   81
Heavy duty tailgate							  150
Heavy duty differential 						 1008
Convoy lights (in lieu of number plate light)				  109
Tonneau cover								  154
Soft top complete (incl heater)						 2483
Hard top complete (incl heater)						 2880
Tracks (fit over tires for very soft ground)				 2280
Road Transport Trailer							 2473
Supacat towed trailer (for one 'cat to tow another)			 1820
Spare wheel and tyre assembly						  250
Recovery ropes (one KERRS, one short)					   74
Supacatsuit (special waterproof coverall)				   70

Incidentally we exceeded the published specs by quite a bit: but then we weren't
worried about "safety factors":

they quote:

weight empty		1600 kg
weight fully loaded	2600 kg
overall length		3.149 m
overall width		1.990 m
height (all parts down) 1.170 m
max climbing gradient	45�
max sideslope		40�
max speed		48 kph
ground pressure		3-5 psi
fuel consumption	5 litres per hour approx.

/. Ian .\