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Details

General specifications
The vehicle is designed to replace the HumVEE series of vehicles, possessing better armor, traveling faster, a slightly higher transport capability, and being more fuel efficient. Essentially a hybrid electric vehicle with a high efficiency diesel engine, the all terrain four wheel drive vehicle essentially replaces the standard military HumVEE, being larger, having a larger carry load, and protecting against I.E.D.'s and other threats, such as 14.5mm armor piercing rounds. The vehicle sports a Monique V-shaped hull, that helps deflect blasts from mines and I.E.D.'s outward, in addition to helping absorb the energy of the impact. The hull is not only lighter due to it's design, but stronger, supporting it's own weight rather than relying on a frame (although the vehicle still has an internal frame). The vehicle is based on the FED Bravo, which is extremely fuel efficient and much larger than the Humvee, with only a few changes to the armor and the electronics of the vehicle, as well as the weapons layout.

The FED Bravo offers 9.58 combined mpg, which represents a mixture of urban mission and convoy escort (highway) driving, with 8.2 mpg off-road and 14 mpg on-road. The current HMMWV model the FED uses for comparison generates about 4.8 mpg, or is roughly twice as fuel efficient. However, the FED bravo weights approximately 16,000 pounds, while the HumVEE weighs at max 6,000 pounds under the most extreme loads. Thus the vehicle is over 5 times more fuel efficient, and carries a heavier load. This translates to better armor and a slightly larger crew space, roughly on par with the M1113 Humvee used by the marines and special forces. Like an SUV, the vehicle has folding seats in the back, which can be replaced with cargo or fitted with 3 extra soldiers. The vehicle can transport a total of 8-9 men, transporting 9 with the center console removed, and 8 without it. The seating arrangement is 2 in the front, and 3 in the back, with an additional 3 in the back if cargo is removed instead. This gives the design a large amount of flexibility, and allows it to transport one full fireteam or reconnaissance fire and maneuver team, but not a full squad. Most Fed Bravo's come equipped with a .50 caliber machine gun, 40mm grenade launcher and LMG, along with various types of anti-tank and aircraft missiles, but some are equipped with 15.5mm machine guns, 25mm machine guns, or 40mm bofors cannons. Designed for light infantry support, they also typically come equipped with a 60mm mortar, and occasionally have a 120mm mortar in the back, although this typically replaces the extra passenger slot.

Possessing AR500, Dyneema, Twaron and Ceramic armor, the vehicle is fully capable of stopping armor piercing 14.5mm rounds and 40mm grenades, and substantially more powerful rounds, such as a single 40mm bofors round. The high strength AMAP armor can defend against a variety of threats, ranging from high explosives to armor piercing rounds. Being substantially stronger and lighter than the MEXAS system, the high strength ceramics are placed below the steel armor, allowing it to stop small arms repeadetly, and a fewer higher end rounds if it penetrates the outer steel and Dnyneema. Additionally, the ALON translucent vacumme chamber glass provides better protection over standard bullet proof glass, several times stronger at the same thickness, and is more resistant to cracking and possesses greater multiple hit capabilities. The vehicle uses approximately half an inch of AR500 steel, which 3 times stronger than RHA or rolled homogeneous steel armor, the standard steel used in most armored vehicles, and 6 pounds of dyneema. Behind this is an additional 10 pounds of high strength ceramic used in the AMAP system, in a chobham tile style configuration. This gives an areal density of the armor being approximately 36 pounds per square foot. With the steel spaced above the ceramics, any round which can pierce the steel armor begins to tumble and fragment, and when entering the ceramic below is already tumbling and fragmenting. While the ceramic is very durable and capable of taking hits in the same spot, the armor is less durable than the steel, and thus is placed below the steel armor, and more capable of stopping the armor piercing jet of shaped charges and hardened penetrators. The outside of the armor is also fitted with SLAT armor designed to prematurely detonate shaped charge warheads, and iron curtain countermeasures designed to shoot down missiles and RPG's.


Engine
The engine is a heavily modified 268 Horsepower Ford 4.4-liter twin turbocharged V8 diesel engine, and shares commonality with the Mk. 32 Mod 1 RIPSAW and MRAP. The engine utilizes a 180 gallon fuel tank, and with the hybrid engine design has 8 mpg, and has roughly a 1000 mile range at 50 mph, or a 450 mile operational range. The front axle is powered by an electric motor, while the rear-wheel-drive is linked to a hybrid fuel-powered and electric system, for a road-coupled parallel hybrid drive system. The Engine essentially powers an electric hybrid unit, which then goes on to power the vehicle, making the vehicle technically electrically powered, but uses a gasoline powered engine. These designs often result in higher fuel efficiency, due to the ability to maximize engine designs and adjust for acceleration without directly or immediately altering the engine or it's RPM.

The vehicle also sports a fuel injector, and a number of improvements, including turbochargers, over the original engines. The Hybrid design is fairly similar to the FED BRAVO, although being slightly heavier and using slightly different armor. The design allows the vehicle to consume 70% less fuel, and as a result reduces the logistical supply and range of the vehicle. This translates to roughly 3 times the range the vehicle would have without. With this design, the vehicle gets around 8.2 mpg city and 14.2 mpg highway, and some 8 MPG off-road.



Armor
The vehicle utilizes the Advaced Modular Armor Protection stuff, which is a successor to the MEXAS. The armor is similar in strength to the MRAP, with the MEXAS, and should theoretically be stronger at the same weight or lighter weight with the Advanced Modular Armor Protection armor.

The armor is similar to the M117, in that it is sloped on both sides; it is additionally, sloped underneath the vehicle, as to deflect the blast of land mines away from the vehicle, and is a monocoque v-hullI design. In addition to this, the armor uses armor similiar to the "FRAG-KIT 6" and caged "Slat" armor in order to better help protect from RPG rounds. As a result of the design, shape, and material, it provides substantial protection against RPG's, light arms, heavy arms, and mines. On top of this is has a number of active protection systems, such as the iron curtain, boomerang anti-sniper device, and mortar detecting radar, which allow it to stop RPG's and other shaped charge missiles, as well as detect the direction of rifle fire and oncoming mortars. Soldiers with the land warrior system have this information relayed to them automatically, giving them immediate up to date information on how to avoid mortar and artillery fire, as well as know the direct of fire from enemy troops, particularly snipers or forces using suppressors.


ALON (Aluminium oxynitride)
Aluminium oxynitride (AlON) is a transparent ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. It is marketed under the name ALON and described in U.S. Patent 4,520,116. It is 4 times harder than fused silica glass, and 85% as hard as sapphire. The material remains solid up to 1,200 °C (2,190 °F). When formed and polished as a window, the material currently (2005) costs about US$10 to US$15 per square inch (~ US$20,000/m²). The armor is sufficient to stop armor piercing .50 caliber rounds, and is more resistant to repeated impact than standard bullet proof glass.

The material is composed of three parts, an outer layer that's exposed to gunfire and made of baked aluminum oxynitride, a middle layer of glass, and a rear layer of polymer backing. The aluminum armor can deflect rounds from small-caliber weapons and still be more clearly transparent than bullet-resistant glass that's been shot, it also passes a much more important test -- it resists .50-caliber armor-piercing bullets and anti-aircraft weapons that typically use .30-caliber rounds, and is roughly half the weight and thickness of traditional ballistics glass. Like air-chamber glass, it has a spacing between the outer and inner armor, which increases it's strength by approximately 35%.



Electronics
The System is operable with the Land warrior operating systems. In addition, it carries a GPS. The radio system is also compatible with the MARS system, and as well include a microwave and radar communications disk and radios. The vehicle also sports 3 2 terabyte Microsoft hard drive computers, for all the potential electronic needs. The weapon systems of the vehicles are electronically controlled, generally by the CROWS II or Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station program.
As an intelligence counter measure, the vehicle sports a Boomerang Anti Sniper countermeasure, intended on finding the location of incoming shots, using an array of speakers, as well as mortar radar to detect oncoming mortar and artillery rounds to alert infantry when to move out of the way.


Armament
The vehicle is capable of using a wide array of weaponry, as can be fit on the CROWS II, Defender, and ARROWS automated firing systems, and can utilize a multitude of other automated weapons systems. However, the vehicle predominately uses the following.

1 x Automated Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun or 40mm automatic Mk 47 Striker grenade launcher
1 x M240 or M249 machine gun
2 x FGM-148 Javelin Anti-Tank missile
2 x FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles
2 x M224 60mm Mortar
1 x 120mm M120 Koltam 6 120mm mortar


Medical Variant
The vehicle is virtually the same, except for the interior, of which it is outfitted with standard medical equipment and does not allow for 14 soldiers per unit.