BAE Systems to build 36 recovery M88A2 armored combat vehicles in $110.4 million contract
WARREN, Mich., 8 July 2015.Armored combat vehicles experts at BAE Systems will provide the U.S. Army with 36 M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift Evacuation System (HERCULES) vehicles under terms of a $110.4 million contract announced last week.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command in Warren, Mich., are awarding the contract to the BAE Systems Platforms & Services segment in York, Pa., to provide the new battlefield armored recovery vehicles.
The M88A2 armored combat vehicle essentially is combination battlefield armored tow truck and crane designed to recover damaged armored vehicles like the M1 Abrams main battle tank, the Stryker wheeled vehicle, and the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
The armored vehicle's primary role is to repair or replace damaged parts in fighting vehicles while under fire, as well as free comb at vehicles that have become bogged down or entangled. The main winch on the M88A2 is capable of a 70 ton, single line recovery, and a 140 ton 2:1 recovery when used with the 140 ton pulley.
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The M88A2 recovery vehicle and its vetronics package is one of the largest all-weather armored recovery vehicles in the Army inventory. It's based on the M60 Patton tank chassis and weighs 63.5 tons. The vehicle is able to tow the 70-ton Abrams tank on slopes and in muddy conditions.
There are three variants, of which the M88A2 Hercules is the largest. The Hercules, a tracked vehicle, can move as fast as 25 miles per hour, with improved braking and steering.
The Hercules also has armored track skirts and applique armor panels, as well as nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) defenses and a smoke screen generator. The vehicle has a crew of three.
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The A-frame boom can lift 35 tons when used with the spade down. The spade do light earth moving and anchor the M88A2 when the vehicle uses its main winch.
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The M88 has an auxiliary power unit to provide auxiliary electrical and hydraulic power when the main engine is off, and also can slave start other vehicles, provide power for the hydraulic impact wrench, and refuel or de-fuel other combat vehicles.
The M88A2 includes a 1,050-horsepower engine; a 35-ton boom; overlay armor; a 140,000-pound, single-line, constant-pull main winch; and a 3-ton auxiliary winch for deploying the main winch cable.
On this contract BAE Systems will do the work in York, Pa., and should be finished by August 2018. For more information contact BAE Systems Platforms & Services online at www.baesystems.com, or the Army Contracting Command-Warren at www.acc.army.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
