A strategic collaboration between UK-based defence and security company QinetiQ and US automotive manufacturer AM General should see a prototype hybrid electric drive (HED)-powered High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Humvee) produced by the end of next year.
QinetiQ announced on 23 November that it had entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with AM General to demonstrate the viability of electrifying military land vehicles. The company conceded in that announcement, however, that the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic had limited the project to producing a couple of virtual reality models of a HED-powered Humvee.
QinetiQ's head of concepts and services, James Bamborough, told Janes on 29 November, “We are planning on jointly developing a functional prototype in the next year, and have bid for funding from the US Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office to help accelerate that programme. Our plan is to have something functioning, demonstrable, and available for testing by the end of 2022.”
Bamborough added that the two companies were “confident on achieving a high performing capability” and that their technology “is built from the ground up to perform in military conditions from the outset and goes through rigorous testing, including high-torque tests and a full submersion test, as would be expected from an operational military vehicle”.
The collaboration between QinetiQ and AM General, which predates any formal demonstrator programmes on either side of the Atlantic, was facilitated by the Joint Venture & Partnering advisory team at the global investment bank, Lincoln International.
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