US Army funds Prius-style hybrid battlewagon The US Army is funding the development of a prototype military hybrid vehicle operating on similar principles to the groundbreaking Toyota Prius. Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Inc of California announced it had won the contract in a release on Monday. Under the $4.88m deal, Quantum will develop a diesel hybrid version of …
As if the US Army didn't already have an image problem, here comes the 'Aggressor'.
With marketing like this, it might be time to reinstate the 'Crusader' howitzer* and - hey - while we're at it why not go the whole hog and get the 'Ravening Barbarian Hordes' main battle tank?
* Scrapped on the entirely novel grounds for a defence contract of not actually being very good.
Oh, because this one has an electric motor it will be more sensitive to electrical problems?
Have you ever driven a car in the last 50years? Any car is equally sensitive, being chock-full of microprocessors and sensors.
Viva electric cars and their acceleration --- an electric sports car is almost as good as a run-of-the-mill motorbike in that department! Maximum torque at 0mph. Good acceleration indeed.
Mike hit the nail on the head. Still, you only need to look at automobile names here to get an idea about the mentality that goes into the marketing and buying of said "products"
Ford Explorer, Expedition, Excursion.... They simply got bigger and BIGGER... I put forth that the next one in line would be (using the Ex..) either the Exclusion or the Exterminator!
Anyone for a 6000 SUX from RoboCop? Anyone?
Most times I agree with the opinions of El Reg's readers even if I am a "Damn Yankee". I find it rather amusing that many of you have found your lifes calling taunting Americans when YOU people give up your own liberties and common sense at the drop of a hat.
Most of us are not militant, gun toting, tobacco chewing, rednecks like our own "King George". I'm quite sure your own military has it's own "brain trust" of marketing droids who come up with inane names for tanks etc. You have a lot to be concerned with in your own government, spend your energy where it will have some effect. Otherwise, kiss my american "arse"!
According to Scientific American at http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=fill-your-car-up-with-alu&chanId=sa003&modsrc=reuters_box it's possible to fill a tank with aluminum (or the Brit aluminium)/gallium pellets and use water as the "fuel" to generate hydrogen silently - and thus run a fuel cell rather than a diesel to charge the batteries and power the Aggressor.
I suppose this means that Mad King George IV will want to invade nations with large bauxite deposits next, but at least those are mostly not Muslim nations.
"Aggressor" seems like a fine name for a lightweight, longrange vehicle, at least as a codename for a prototype... whether the army even buys into this vehicle and still decides to keep that name is very much up for grabs. I bet they name it after someone famous, like the Bradley vehicle or the Patton tank (and both of those guys were pretty damn aggressive, I've heard). Aggression wins wars, there is no way around that, but it doesn't imply whether the war is just or not...
And the Crusader howitzer is more likely to have been named for the Allied liberation of Europe than the knights-and-horses version (assuming its named after any event at all, not just a cool term)- in the immortalized words of Gen. Eisenhower: "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade... ...The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you".
It seems to me that one of the greatest advantages of this type of system comes with logistics. If a unit were to run out of fuel there are options to 'limp' home as opposed to being totally screwed.
As solar technology develops it may be possible to equip these with an array large enough to provide emergency power. Likewise you could have a portable battery pack that the soldiers could bring to the closest mains line to recharge and power the vehicle.
Simply opening more options on the battle field seems to be a great idea. That being said I think they would be better served with a traditional hybrid approach of both engines being able to move the vehicle than their diesel generator eclectic engine approach. If the electric system goes out it would be nice to have a trusty old deisel system to run on.
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