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Supacat Unveils Armoured Closed Cab HMT

Supacat Armoured Closed Cab (ACC) HMT at DVD 2024 [© Supacat]

British defence manufacturer Supacat unveils Armoured Closed Cab HMT variant alongside the tactical Light Mobility Vehicle at DVD 2024 .

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Press Release, Dunkeswell, 18 September 2024: Devon-based defence engineering company Supacat launched two defence vehicles at DVD2024, taking place at UTAC Millbrook in Bedford.

The first of these is a multi-role tactical light mobility vehicle (LMV) for light role and Very High Readiness forces. The second vehicle is a new addition to the High Mobility Transporter (HMT) family, with a 4-person armoured closed cab platform.

Building on the inherent modularity of the HMT common base platform, this variant provides high levels of crew protection while maintaining sub-system commonality with other HMT variants, including the UK MoD’s Jackal and Coyote. Its closed cab demonstrates the benefits of a modular design, enabling the spiral development of a new capability requirement on an in-service platform.

Supacat Armoured Closed Cab (ACC) HMT at DVD 2024 [© Bob Morrison]

The 4-person cab provides integral blast and ballistic protection (capability on request), with Human Factors being an important consideration during the development process to provide a safe and comfortable operating environment for 5th percentile Female to 95th percentile Male occupants.

The ACC HMT has been optimised as a mobility platform for complex mission systems, to be crewed by Commander, Driver and two Mission System Operators. The vehicle is compliant with Generic Vehicle Architecture requirements, supporting the electrical and electronic integration of a range of complex Mission Systems. The vehicle has a payload capacity of circa 4000 kg with integrated blast and ballistic armour, with the chassis load bed designed to allow easy physical integration of Mission Systems.

The ACC HMT builds on the HMT’s world class reputation to provide the enhanced protection, payload and mobility required on the modern battlefield. Being able to operate in the same tactical environment as light troops means that organic support can be deployed to the correct place on the battlefield to maximise the safety and effectiveness of troops. Typical roles for the ACC HMT include Ground Based Air Defence, Battle Group Organic Anti-Armour, Ambulance, Recovery Vehicle or Troop carrier.

As a member of the HMT family of vehicles, there are numerous advantages carried forward, including operationally proven reliability and ease of maintenance, a reduced operator and maintainer training burden on introduction to service and use of spare parts common across existing HMT fleets. This ensures that the ACC HMT is able to deliver a very different capability without the need to increase the breadth of the held fleet, reducing the impact on materiel inventory of introducing new capability, whilst supporting the UK MoD’s Land Mobility Programme stated goal of reducing the British Army’s fleet to 15 core platforms or less by 2030.

Phil Applegarth, director, head of Supacat, said: “Supacat has been privileged to partner with the British Army, and other armies around the world, in the development of what we are confident are the most versatile, rugged and interchangeable military vehicle platforms in the world.

“Our new Light Mobility Vehicle – Tactical (LMV-T) is the latest edition to the Supacat range, designed specifically with special forces and VHR Units in mind, fulfilling a ‘fly and drive’ capability, with its low weight and compact design enabling tactical loading into transporter aircraft systems whilst maintaining excellent payload capacity.

“Meanwhile, as UK MoD and other defence forces look to rationalise their fleets to achieve great modularity and cost control, our Armoured Closed Cab (ACC) HMT has the potential to revolutionise the army’s ability to sustain operations with much reduced burden on logistics, maintenance and cost. At the heart of our design for both systems has been MoD’s intent under its Land Industrial Strategy to simplify logistics whilst increasing effectiveness. We very much look forward to showcasing both platforms to our customers.”

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