The 1,000th load bed for the Ministry of Defence’s new support vehicle has been delivered by Marshall Specialist Vehicles, the Cambridge-based specialist vehicle and shelter manufacturer, to the prime contractor, MAN Truck and Bus.
The 1,000th load bed was for a 9t cargo vehicle. Variants in the family of over 7,000 lorries include recovery, fuel tankers and over 6,600 6t, 9t, and 15t load capacity cargo vehicles.
The load bed is a light-weight steel fabrication, which is manufactured on a state-of-the-art robotic welder that completes over 2,000 welds on each load bed. Each load bed is then passed through a zinc phosphate plant which cleans, protects and provides the first coat of paint. After this each load bed is sprayed with an undercoat, an anti-skid coating and two top coats of paint. When fitted to the vehicle the underside of the load bed and all exposed seams are waxed to ensure there is extended protection against corrosion.
“The delivery confirms Marshall SV’s capability to deliver advanced engineering solutions to its customers on time and to cost,” said Peter Callaghan, chief executive of Marshall SV. “It is a tribute to everyone involved on the project that we have delivered the 1,000th load bed in less than 17 months,” he added.
The high specification design accommodates a wide range of demanding user requirements extending to over 600 specified loads, and provides a range of tie down and lashing points, each of which is rated to 2t safe working load, to retain loose loads, pallets, vehicles, seating kits and a wide range of military equipment. The tail board and drop sides are designed to withstand a 1.85t pallet load hitting them with a 2G force and also to support the weight of two fully kitted soldiers standing on them when supported horizontally by the integral chains.
The support vehicle contract, worth £1.2 billion, was awarded in March 2005. Following a design and development phase, which included extensive UK MoD trials, delivery of the cargo vehicles started in April 2007. ISD for the programme as a whole was achieved on 29 February 2008. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed in 2013.
MSV undertook the design and development of the cargo load bed variants and currently manufacture 35 vehicles per week. There are 23 cargo vehicle variants based on the 6t, 9t and 15t MAN chassis. These include flat bed, cargo and troop carrying vehicles, some of which also have winches or vehicle mounted cranes.
MSV also undertook related support work including the design and development of riot protection kits, the load interface designs and schemes, human factors studies, safety case and integrated logistic support (ILS) documentation. The vehicles will be supported throughout their 20-year service life by a comprehensive contractorised logistic support (CLS) package.
Twitter