As it rumbled down a steep hill at the Aberdeen Test Center, the huge armored troop carrier hit a bump and briefly caught air. Thanks to a modified suspension, the 22-ton truck did not land with a bone-jarring clatter. Instead, its knobby front tires seemed to glide back to the dirt road.
"That speed would almost definitely bend the axles on the original suspension," automotive engineer Adam Vittum shouted over the engine noise. "We would all be in a lot of pain and very possibly have broken something on the vehicle." No danger of that now, he noted, given the cushiony independent suspension: "It feels like nothing."
A comfier ride is one benefit of the $160,000-per-vehicle retrofit. The main purpose, though, is to keep these Cougar vehicles rolling across rocky, hilly Afghanistan, where the U.S. military is stepping up its fight against a resurgent Taliban.
Testing of the nimbler Cougar began, and continues, in Harford County. More than 90 years after Aberdeen Proving Ground's establishment, the facility is still helping the U.S. military prepare for battle. These days a big part of that mission is focused on Afghanistan, where roadside bombs are a growing threat.
The test center, which is part of the sprawling proving ground complex northeast of Baltimore, has had a key role, for instance, in evaluating the Cougar's entire class of vehicles, known by the acronym MRAP for "mine resistant ambush protected."
Aberdeen is where their ability to survive mine explosions and other attacks has been put to the test. It's also where some automotive trials happen. Assessment centers in Arizona and Nevada have the desert climate found in parts of Afghanistan, but Harford County's Churchville area has hills well suited for punishing MRAP drills.
"You put a high load on the engines climbing the hills, and then you work the brakes coming down the hills," said senior test director Doug Griffin. And frequent speed-humplike bumps test the suspension.
As refinements continue at Aberdeen, 15 to 25 retooled Cougars are expected to reach Afghanistan by month's end, with a goal of having 1,400 there by February. Designed in a hurry for Iraq, with its decent road network (and ubiquitous roadside bombs), the original Cougar had rigid axles that sometimes broke in off-road conditions.
Soft ground
Meanwhile, Aberdeen has tested a brand-new vehicle, the M-ATV, created for the Afghan landscape. Oshkosh Corp. of Wisconsin recently won a $1 billion contract to build 2,244 of them and has begun assembly.
