HMT 400 Desert Special Operations Vehicle

Thanks to Jonathan for the link!

via Defense Aerospace.

Supacat is unveiling HMT 400 Desert, a new variant of its acclaimed “Jackal” special operations vehicle, at IDEX 2017. HMT 400 Desert will be exhibited on the International Golden Group, IGG, stand 04-C30, as Supacat’s representatives in the UAE.

HMT 400 Desert has been adapted to enhance performance in the desert’s harsh environment and climatic conditions. It has no armour and the lighter gross vehicle mass improves the power-to-weight ratio and increases mobility over deep desert sand. Further desert features include cooling, a central tyre inflation system and lightweight bead locks to enable the vehicle to be operated at the lowest tyre pressures.

The vehicle has been configured to fully comply with the UAE Presidential Guard’s requirements for a new special operations vehicle, including tactical CH-47 internal loading, and has undergone successful tactical trials and testing by UAE forces over the summer. The HMT series, widely known as `Jackal`, has been battle proven in service with numerous elite special forces worldwide.

“Supacat is committed to supporting the region and in the event that HMT 400 Desert is selected by the UAE Presidential Guard a large element of the production and subsequent support programmes will be conducted in UAE”, said Phil Applegarth, Head of Supacat.

The flexibility of the HMT series has been recently demonstrated by Supacat in developing additional variants and conversions to meet wider and emerging requirements. These include HMT in the Recovery, Logistic Support and Gun Towing roles as well as a unique 4x4 to 6x6 convertible feature, which were announced in September at DVD in the UK.

Amazing how history repeats.  While we're recreating Long Range Patrol from  WW2 we also need to make a few upgrades.  What would I like to see, especially since the Marine Corps is looking to add these vehicles to its inventory?

First is trailers.  If we're going to be at long distance from support then food, water, bandages and ammo are important.  Trailers that are off road capable should be acquired to carry the increased load and not overburden our rides.

The second is this.  Has anyone thought about maybe cross training a few of the grunts as mechanics on these vehicles?  I mean formal courses!  We should first take them out to the field, bang them around hard and see what breaks.  We should do this over the course of a couple  of months and then train our guys to fix what breaks and then properly stock our offroad trailers with the gear.  I hear you bitching already.  If you see something breaking with hard core use then why not pay for upgrades.  On that issue I don't want to make unique components which will drive up costs and then the testing will be extreme.  We're talking about operating the vehicles above design limits to get a gauge on things.

Yeah.  Lets think about off road trailers and getting basic mechanics skill for the guys that will operate these vehicles.  That I think will be a winner.  Below is the Tetrapod off road trailer (website here...they run with the gimmick of it being able to be turned into a boat but I think a robust enclosed trailer has military applications).