US marines to put prime mover contenders through their paces

摘要

The US Marine Corps (USMC) is expected to start trials soon of three European contenders to meet its requirement for a Lightweight Prime Mover (LPM) for use with its new BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons and Vehicles) 155 mm M777 towed artillery system, which starts full-rate production in 2006. The M777 will normally be towed by the Oshkosh Truck Corporation Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) 6 x 6, which carries the crew and some ready-use ammunition. This has a loaded weight of 26,218 kg, of which the pay load is 13,606 kg.