the cougar mrap vehicles were commissioned  under the mind-resistant ambush protection  

or mrap program of the u.s  department of defense dod

general dynamics land systems manufactured  the cougar family of mrap vehicles force  

protection had produced the cougar vehicles until  general dynamics acquired it in december 2011.  

the cougar mrap is used in urban and confined  areas in command and control explosive ordnance  

disposal or eod patrol convoy support forward  observation surveillance and medical evacuation  

or med evac missions it is primarily designed to  reduce the casualties caused by threats such as  

improvised explosive device ied detonations  and small arms fire or saf forces operate  

the cougar armored vehicles in the u.s canada  hungary iraq italy poland and the uk in this  

video the u.s military news channel will discuss  mine resistant ambush protected vehicles or mrap

fire with flying metal fragments and  burning hot explosive materials could  

not stop the mrap vehicle despite being on the  receiving end of a massive roadside bomb attack  

it did not kill soldiers at times riding  in the now famous mine resistant ambush  

protected blast deflecting war vehicles  the arrival of these vehicles in iraq and  

afghanistan was heralded as a defining moment  for soldiers facing enemy fire in war every day  

the innovations fundamental to mrap vehicle  construction and engineering and the pace at  

which they flew from concept to war struck many  as a minor miracle of life-saving proportions  

this circumstance gives new meaning to the famous  necessity is the mother of invention saying  

and its impact cannot be  understated how did this happen

and how did it happen so quickly

the first m raps emerged in the early to mid  2000s and in 2007 former secretary robert gates  

made the now famous comment that acquiring  mraps was the pentagon's highest priority  

within just a few years thousands  of m-raps were built and delivered

getting these vehicles especially in this  kind of time frame took enterprising methods  

of engineering and acquisition m-raps were built  such that if the vehicle had to absorb a massive  

ied hit the core capsule or chassis of  the vehicle would stay intact the wheels  

may come off and various components may get  destroyed yet the soldiers riding inside survive  

here's was in part accomplished by engineering  vehicles with advanced suspension greater ground  

clearance and of course the famous v-shaped hull  able to send explosive fragments out onto the  

sides of an attacked vehicle ground clearance  also proved invaluable based upon a simple  

scientific principle that bomb materials are less  destructive when they have farther to travel off  

the ground to reach a vehicle the arrival of these  vehicles happened by several key factors such as  

the rapid flexing of the u.s industrial base and  the sheer number of mrap builders perhaps most of  

all the vehicles were successfully fast-tracked  through innovative new acquisition procedures  

the idea was to truncate condense or accelerate  otherwise lengthy and spread apart milestones for  

example former secretary of defense ashton  carter the pentagon's acquisition chief  

found a way to accomplish testing development  and safety certifications concurrently during  

many of the mrap years it also helped that  congress was pouring money into the program  

multiple variants and mrap builders were  another reason for the rapid response  

as mraps were built by navistar armor holdings  bae systems force protection general dynamics  

and others the success of mraps even spurred the  pentagon to quickly make more mobile mrap variants  

called mrap all-terrain vehicles engineered  with improved speed and suspension as smaller  

faster ied defending platforms able to go off-road  the m-atvs ultimately built by oshkosh defense  

came rapidly into existence following an urgent  needs statement from commanders in afghanistan  

asking for a mobile off-road capable mrap variant  i once sat inside of bae systems rg33 significant  

mrap years ago when reporting on the program  and it seemed like an armored living room  

the cougar vehicle platform comes in two primary  variants namely cat 1 and cat 2 integrated with  

upgraded independent suspension systems the cat 1  is a 4x4 variant used to conduct mounted patrols  

surveillance communications and command and  control to support small unit combat operations  

it can accommodate five crew members and a gunner

the cat 2 is a 6x6 variant that can  be deployed to conduct security and  

troop and cargo transportation in support of  multi-mission combat operations the vehicle  

can transport nine crew members and a gunner the  cat one were fitted with the saber tube launched  

optically tracked wire guided tow system to defeat  armored and urban enclosed threats saber is an  

anti-heavy armor missile system several cougar  cat 2 vehicles were converted into ambulance  

variants to transport and provide emergency  care to personnel injured on the battlefield  

the live fire testing of the cougar cat 2 a1  with this seat survivability upgrade or ssu  

was completed at the aberdeen test center  atc maryland in june 2016. five live fire  

egress tests were conducted between  june 2016 and august 2016. further 100  

cougar cat 2 a1 vehicles were retrofitted  with ssu kits for enhanced survivability  

the mission variants include the cougar hev or  hardened engineer vehicle the cougar j-e-r-r-v  

joint eod rapid response vehicle the cougar iss or  independent suspension system cougar mrap badger  

ilav the iraqi light armored vehicle ridgeback ppv  the protected patrol vehicle mastiff ppv wolfhound  

heavy tactical support vehicle and tempest mpv  the cougar m-rap vehicles incorporate a monocoque  

v-shaped chassis mounting bulletproof and  blastproof body the conventional layout houses an  

engine in the front a crew cabin in the middle  and features a troop compartment at the rear  

two rectangular transparent armor glass windows  protect the driver and commander in the cab  

the driver and commander can enter and exit  the vehicle through the doors on either side  

of the cab the troop compartment is equipped  with double entrances at the vehicle's rear  

the roof is also equipped with a standard  hatch both sides of the trip compartment  

and all access doors are equipped with observation  windows the vehicle can accommodate six passengers  

in the 4x4 configuration and 10 passengers in the  6x6 configuration the standard cougar comes with  

no armament outfit vehicles can be installed with  a remotely controlled weapon station mounting a  

7.62 millimeter machine gun 12 7 millimeter heavy  machine gun or a 40 millimeter automatic grenade  

launcher the cougar mrap vehicle offers protection  against direct fire it features protection against  

762 millimeter armor piercing or ap rounds  rocket-propelled grenades or or rpg rounds  

landmines and improvised explosive devices  or ieds the v-shaped hull reduces the impact  

of blasts by directing the shot away from the  vehicle the vehicle can withstand the double  

tm-57 mine equivalent explosion under any wheel  and a single blast under the middle of the vehicle  

the cougar vehicles are equipped with nuclear  biological and chemical or nbc protection systems  

the cougar mrap vehicle is powered by a  caterpillar c7 diesel engine coupled to a  

six-speed allison 3500 sp series automatic  transmission the 330 horsepower engine  

generates a maximum torque of  1166 newton meters at 1400 rpm  

the vehicles are fitted with hutchison vfi or  variable function insert run flats on all wheels  

cougar has a maximum speed of 104 kilometers  per hour and a range of 675 kilometers it can  

afford a depth of 99 centimeters and it can  be airlifted by the c-17 transport aircraft

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