Top US Army officials say they are continuing to press Lockheed Martin to reduce the weight of an unmanned ground vehicle that it is developing as part of the $160bn future combat systems modernisation programme.
The multifunction utility / logistics and equipment vehicle (MULE) was supposed to weigh 5,000lb fully loaded, which would have allowed it to be transported strapped to the bottom of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies.
But Lockheed says the vehicle's weight has grown to over 7,000lb, driven higher by the army's desire to add armour and increase the speed of the vehicle from 45km/h to 65km/h. The MULE has a separate engine drive for each of its four wheels, which makes it very agile and able to navigate tough, mountainous terrain.
"We've been working very hard to get that weight down," Don Nimblett, manager of business development for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control division, told Reuters.
He said Lockheed had appointed a 'weight czar' to focus on the issue, including exploring greater use of composite materials and other solutions to lower the weight.
But he said it was probably unrealistic to expect the vehicle's weight to come all the way down to 5,000lb, and the army might have to accept that the vehicle would have to be transported by the larger Boeing CH-47 helicopter.
The CH-47 helicopter already was being used heavily in Afghanistan by the Army, he said.
Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, said he had not yet accepted the greater weight. "Didn't industry bid to those specifications? Shouldn't they be held accountable? he told Reuters in an interview at the annual Association of the US Army meeting.
"I'm not done with industry and I hope industry is not done with me," he said. "I think they realise they're responsible."
Lockheed is developing three separate variants of the MULE, one that would carry the equipment of 20 soldiers, along with 100gal of water and 60 meals; one that would provide heavy fire power for dismounted soldiers; and one that would identify and neutralize any mines in a given area.
Vane said he was still wedded to the Army's stated requirement for the ability to transport the MULE on the Black Hawk helicopters, given that the Army had far more of those.
"Why would I want to limit myself," he said. If Lockheed was unable to reach the desired weight, the Army would be forced to change its proposed way of fighting or operating.
He said he did not think the company had reached "a dead-end" on reducing the weight yet.
The Army's FCS programme, run by Boeing and SAIC, is a family of 14 manned and unmanned aerial and ground systems tied together with communications and information links. The army plans to begin fielding seven initial technologies with infantry brigade combat teams in 2011.
Lockheed is already working on engineering models of the MULE, and is due to begin building MULE prototypes in late fiscal 2009. Initial deliveries of the MULE prototypes to the Army are slated to begin in the third quarter of fiscal 2010.
Nimblett said the MULE programme had proven more challenging than Lockheed had expected, but said no one was surprised about the weight issues, given the additional requirements.
Lockheed was breaking new ground with this programme since such a sophisticated unmanned vehicle had never been built before. "We're on a journey of discovery," Nimblett said.
By Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters.
