Camel II, primed by Choctaw Defense of the US with WEW of Germany as a major partner, has now reached TARDEC’s APG (Aberdeen Proving Ground) facility for extensive testing.
Camel II is the much-needed upgrade to the M107, M149 and M1112 series 400-gallon water trailers (Water Buffalo) that have been in service for many years. Camel II is the result of well over three years’ conceptual and prototype development and an initial contract for more than 300 units was agreed between TACOM and Choctaw Defense of Oklahoma in July 2011.
Camel II represents a considerable capability upgrade from the US Army’s existing systems, including a doubling of the unit payload and the coupling of complimentary systems, such as pumping, chlorination and preservation in any climatic conditions from desert dust to arctic cold. Whilst the Camel II unit itself is demountable, the tank unit will be dedicated to service with the M-1095 MTV trailer, which will also house the ancillary services.
At APG, the Camel II unit will be thoroughly tested for functionality and integrity in all possible operating conditions, including cold-weather and extreme terrain environments.
The prime contractor for Camel II, Choctaw Defense, is a business unit of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and has over 25 years’ experience in engineering and manufacturing military Ground Support Systems for US Army, Navy, Air Force and US Marine Corps. Choctaw has 350,000ft2 of modern manufacturing facilities. In addition to ISO 9001 certification, Choctaw was recently awarded the 2012 Excellence in Innovation Award by NIST (National Institute of Standardization and Technology) for outstanding implementation of lean manufacturing processes.
This smaller family further builds on WEW’s strong reputation as the specialist supplier of modular fuel and water systems for Forward Operating Bases and main expeditionary bases. Alongside Choctaw, WEW has invested substantially in this concept and is using Camel II as a platform for a portfolio of smaller multi-modal modular fuel and water systems intended for service with FMTV-type vehicles, as well as the growing protected vehicle utility variant market. Payloads for this series will be between 2,000L (525 USG/440 Imp.G.) and 7,500L (2,000 USG/1,650 Imp. G) and all modules are multi-modal in concept, including air, rotary-wing under-sling and low-level chute-drop if required.
Choctaw and WEW expect a unit lifecycle for Camel II of not less than 30 years. WEW has, in recent years, further enhanced its "End To End" service by undertaking mid-life upgrades and refurbishments, incorporating enhancements such as systems monitoring, GBA (Generic Base Architecture) interfaces and asset-tracking. The flow-down documentary and training support functions are naturally an important part of this service.
With over 40 years’ experience in the supply of containerised pressure-vessels for civilian supply-chains, WEW has since the mid 1990s been supplying numerous armed forces with fuel and water systems with payloads ranging from 2,000L (525 USG/440 Imp.G.) and 45,000L (11,850 USG/10,000 Imp. G). All WEW platforms share the benefit of full multi-modal operation in both military and civilian supply-chains, a feature increasingly recognised as essential for future expeditionary and disaster-relief duties.