Innovative Deployable Protection System for High-Speed External Transportation of Tactical Vehicles

Rugged tactical vehicles are critical to the success of U.S. Navy and Marine missions and must be transported around the globe at a moment"s notice. Many of these vehicles, such as the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), Interim Fast Attack Vehicle (IFAV) and Light Strike Vehicle (LSV) were designed to be transported as external-loads; however with recent developments in high-speed rotorcraft, many are starting to sustain damage when transported at speeds in excess of 180kts. In particular, damage to windshields and radiators, hoses and wiring are potentially jeopardizing missions. To address damage to tactical vehicles during high-speed external transportation, an innovative low cost in-field deployable protection system is proposed which exploits Continuum Dynamics, Inc."s twenty-plus years of institutional experience predicting aerodynamic performance in support of rotorcraft and dynamic interface operations as well as hardware efforts to reduce vehicle drag. The proposed approach takes a system wide aeromechanics and logistics focus and aims to produce an in-theater functional method to prevent air load damage to vehicle windshields and engine compartments with the smallest logistical footprint possible.