Army successfully tests NGCV underbody technology

The Army recently conducted a test of combat vehicle operator protection technologies to inform the design of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle, according to the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center.

The demonstration at the Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland featured new technologies being developed to protect warfighters from vehicle underbody blasts. The technologies will be "instrumental" in the Army's decision to come in fiscal year 2023 on whether to advance to new ground combat vehicles or continue focusing on upgrades to the current fleet, according to Jeff Koshko, associate director of TARDEC's Ground Vehicle Survivability and Protection Laboratory.

The demonstrator contained a lightweight hull with an underbody solution, an energy-absorbing floor, modular semi-active seats and an active blast mitigation system.

The blast test, using life-sized mannequins, met the objectives of the Hull Frame Body Cab project: to design the occupant's space from the inside out, prevent catastrophic deformations in the vehicle hull that cause injury, control loads to reduce lower extremity injury, develop an integrated interior system and integrate an active blast mitigation system with other blast technologies.

TARDEC told Inside Defense a second test to confirm the findings from the first test has been scheduled, but was not able to release the date and time.