HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan will soon have a new tool to help them get through enemy fire in small villages.
"When they have to get the orders to move out and go into that area, it's the danger zone," said Steve Colvin, project manager for the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) Prototype Integration Facility (PIF).
Team members are making it easier for soldiers to travel through dangerous situations. One hundred units of the new ATV they have designed and modified will be shipping out in less than two weeks.
They have upgraded a stock Kawasaki ATV with a machine gun mount, stretcher platform, eight-ply tires and many other added features designed to make it more compatible with the sandy Afghan terrain.
"We have the armored vehicles... in theatre right now," Colvin said. "This vehicle did not exist, so this is helping save lives by the speed and the rapidness that this can deploy."
The upgrades on the ATV are also designed to keep the vehicle running under attack.
"We have tire balls inside these tires. They can run flat. The tires can take a bullet," Colvin explained.
This ATV is a prime example of the type of projects the PIF delivers on a regular basis to support the war fighter.
"A hostile area such as in a village experiencing gunfire, this vehicle will go in quickly, stabilize the area and possibly extract a casualty or a wounded soldier and get out," said Colvin.
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The PIF has created a new ATV that is designed to protect soldiers in the most dangerous of territories/situations.
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