New vehicle retrieval trailer en route to Afghanistan
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - When a tactical wheeled vehicle such as an MRAP, a heavily armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, becomes disabled or stuck in the unforgiving landscape of Afghanistan, service members must retrieve and repair these valuable machines. On such operations, lives are at stake, and more vehicles are in danger of being stranded. The longer it takes to recover a vehicle, the higher the risks.
A new vehicle retrieval system that could recover the approximately 500 disabled vehicles in Afghanistan much faster and easier is currently being tested. Known as the Joint Recovery and Distribution System, or JRaDS, it looks like an overgrown flatbed trailer usually used to transport wrecked cars along on our local interstate highways.
In fact, the JRaDS 40T is just that, with a few major exceptions.
According to Anibal Garcia, JRaDS program manager for Boeing, the vehicle started with a commercially-designed trailer. "Boeing and production partner Absolute Electronic Solutions, Inc., have developed a family of trailers which will expedite the handling and distribution of cargo as well as the recovery and evacuation of catastrophically disabled vehicles and downed aircraft," Garcia said.
"Although especially useful in recovering these vehicles," Garcia continued, "it is clear that a significant spinoff will be its ability to get the warfighter out of harm's way as fast as possible."
The 101st Sustainment Brigade at Fort Campbell, Ky., successfully demonstrated the JRaDS capabilities earlier this year.
The JRaDS system is part of the U.S. Transportation Command's Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, known as JCTD. "The JRaDS recovery capability comes from its advanced design, enabling it to rapidly recover disabled or severely damaged vehicles such as MRAPs, tactical wheeled vehicles and engineering equipment," said John McDonald, USTRANSCOM operational manager, JCTD Management Team.
According to McDonald, the JRaDS 40T trailers have a tilting deck, to allow drive-on and drag-on operations: An integrated 60,000 lb. recovery system; two winches capable of moving 50,000 pounds each.
"Three JRaDS 40T trailers are en route now to Afghanistan answering the immediate need to recover disabled MRAPs," McDonald said. "These trailers will reduce the number of soldiers and Marines exposed on recovery missions and reduce the time it now takes to perform recoveries."
The JRaDS 40T trailers are scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan in early December and will undergo further testing through early January.
Army Lt. Col. Dean Huard of the Strategy, Policy Programs and Logistics directorate at USTRANSCOM has oversight of the JRaDS program. "The JCTD allows for demonstrations to determine if the product is viable," Huard said. "If the demonstrations prove to have military utility then the services may purchase the trailers to put into the inventory."
Huard explained the two variances of JRaDS vehicles.
"There's the 40 ton, which predominantly does the MRAP recovery. This one is going to Afghanistan and has already had a series of demonstrations with the 101st Sustainment Brigade out of Fort Campbell, Ky. These demonstrations were very successful.
"And now the 101st is deployed into Afghanistan and we've sent three trailers into Afghanistan to have the 101st use them and see how they operate in a real world environment," Huard continued. "The second variant, which I think has more of a tie to TRANSCOM, is the 34 ton, which does line haul distribution and will also do aircraft interface. This is a great feature for enhancing the supply chain."
McDonald agrees that the LH34 is particularly attractive to USTRANSCOM which provides air, land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense, both in time of peace and time of war. "The JRaDS 34T (LH34) logistics trailer will interface directly with DoD cargo aircraft," McDonald said, "and is capable of unloading from them and delivering directly to the point of need.
"The 34T can also load and unload 20 and 40 foot containers without a crane or forklift," McDonald continued. "The 34T will be demonstrated at Dover Air Force Base (Delaware) in January and at 29 Palms Marine Corps Base (California) in February."
Huard says he is excited about the JRaDS technology.
"You can recover MRAPs quicker, better and more efficiently (with the 40T)," Huard said. "And for the second variant (the LH34), you're going to improve the supply chain and enhance the whole distribution process because you can take that trailer in the back of an airframe and transfer pallets without any forklift. That just means the warfighter is going to get the supplies quicker."
________________________
To receive USTRANSCOM News Service releases and articles by email, simply send an email to join-ustcns@lyris.dmasa.dma.mil . There is no need to fill in the subject or message block. To unsubscribe, please send a blank e-mail to the following address from your subscriber e-mail account: leave-ustcns@lyris.dmasa.dma.mil.
Follow USTRANSCOM: www.facebook.com/USTRANSCOM and
www.twitter.com/US_TRANSCOM
A new vehicle retrieval system that could recover the approximately 500 disabled vehicles in Afghanistan much faster and easier is currently being tested. Known as the Joint Recovery and Distribution System, or JRaDS, it looks like an overgrown flatbed trailer usually used to transport wrecked cars along on our local interstate highways.
In fact, the JRaDS 40T is just that, with a few major exceptions.
According to Anibal Garcia, JRaDS program manager for Boeing, the vehicle started with a commercially-designed trailer. "Boeing and production partner Absolute Electronic Solutions, Inc., have developed a family of trailers which will expedite the handling and distribution of cargo as well as the recovery and evacuation of catastrophically disabled vehicles and downed aircraft," Garcia said.
"Although especially useful in recovering these vehicles," Garcia continued, "it is clear that a significant spinoff will be its ability to get the warfighter out of harm's way as fast as possible."
The 101st Sustainment Brigade at Fort Campbell, Ky., successfully demonstrated the JRaDS capabilities earlier this year.
The JRaDS system is part of the U.S. Transportation Command's Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, known as JCTD. "The JRaDS recovery capability comes from its advanced design, enabling it to rapidly recover disabled or severely damaged vehicles such as MRAPs, tactical wheeled vehicles and engineering equipment," said John McDonald, USTRANSCOM operational manager, JCTD Management Team.
According to McDonald, the JRaDS 40T trailers have a tilting deck, to allow drive-on and drag-on operations: An integrated 60,000 lb. recovery system; two winches capable of moving 50,000 pounds each.
"Three JRaDS 40T trailers are en route now to Afghanistan answering the immediate need to recover disabled MRAPs," McDonald said. "These trailers will reduce the number of soldiers and Marines exposed on recovery missions and reduce the time it now takes to perform recoveries."
The JRaDS 40T trailers are scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan in early December and will undergo further testing through early January.
Army Lt. Col. Dean Huard of the Strategy, Policy Programs and Logistics directorate at USTRANSCOM has oversight of the JRaDS program. "The JCTD allows for demonstrations to determine if the product is viable," Huard said. "If the demonstrations prove to have military utility then the services may purchase the trailers to put into the inventory."
Huard explained the two variances of JRaDS vehicles.
"There's the 40 ton, which predominantly does the MRAP recovery. This one is going to Afghanistan and has already had a series of demonstrations with the 101st Sustainment Brigade out of Fort Campbell, Ky. These demonstrations were very successful.
"And now the 101st is deployed into Afghanistan and we've sent three trailers into Afghanistan to have the 101st use them and see how they operate in a real world environment," Huard continued. "The second variant, which I think has more of a tie to TRANSCOM, is the 34 ton, which does line haul distribution and will also do aircraft interface. This is a great feature for enhancing the supply chain."
McDonald agrees that the LH34 is particularly attractive to USTRANSCOM which provides air, land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense, both in time of peace and time of war. "The JRaDS 34T (LH34) logistics trailer will interface directly with DoD cargo aircraft," McDonald said, "and is capable of unloading from them and delivering directly to the point of need.
"The 34T can also load and unload 20 and 40 foot containers without a crane or forklift," McDonald continued. "The 34T will be demonstrated at Dover Air Force Base (Delaware) in January and at 29 Palms Marine Corps Base (California) in February."
Huard says he is excited about the JRaDS technology.
"You can recover MRAPs quicker, better and more efficiently (with the 40T)," Huard said. "And for the second variant (the LH34), you're going to improve the supply chain and enhance the whole distribution process because you can take that trailer in the back of an airframe and transfer pallets without any forklift. That just means the warfighter is going to get the supplies quicker."
________________________
To receive USTRANSCOM News Service releases and articles by email, simply send an email to join-ustcns@lyris.dmasa.dma.mil . There is no need to fill in the subject or message block. To unsubscribe, please send a blank e-mail to the following address from your subscriber e-mail account: leave-ustcns@lyris.dmasa.dma.mil.
Follow USTRANSCOM: www.facebook.com/USTRANSCOM and
www.twitter.com/US_TRANSCOM
Follow Us On:
