Small, rugged multi-purpose vehicles at the AUSA show are equipped with new features but carry a familiar leaping-deer logo.
Visitors to the John Deere pavilion at the exhibition hall might expect to see big green machines that are more at home on the farm than on the battlefield.
What you see instead are three tan vehicles shorter than an F-150 pickup that can haul cargo, carry soldiers and maneuver in austere environments.
"People think of John Deere as the yellow and green stuff," said Todd Halstead, manager of the Military Utility Business for John Deere. "We are definitely more than just the yellow and green stuff."
The newest of the vehicles is a Maintenance and Cargo Hauler MACH-2/MACH 2XL , developed in association with International Automated Systems, that can be transported by the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
That capability is a new innovation in which the bars over the passenger area reconfigure to sit within that space to keep the vehicle low profile at 60 inches high.
The vehicle's long- and short-bed variations can be configured variously according to the Army's needs, Halstead said. For example, soldiers have expressed an interest in a fire suppression capability, he said.
The MACH 2/2XL weight is about 2,200 pounds, and payload capacity is nearly 1,200 pounds. Cargo bed capacity is nearly 770 pounds.
To make the vehicle more versatile for mission requirements, an all-terrain trailer can expand cargo capacity, using a trailer tongue that swivels 360 degrees to deal with rugged terrain and prevent problems with decoupling. Up to four trailers can be hauled behind one of the vehicles.
The original MACH is a program of record used by the U.S. Army now, Halstead said, and the MACH 2/2XL are available for consideration by the Army.
Kathleen Curthoys is editor of Army Times. She has been an editor at Military Times for 20 years, covering issues that affect service members. She previously worked as an editor and staff writer at newspapers in Columbus, Georgia; Huntsville, Alabama; Bloomington, Indiana; Monterey, California and in Germany.
