Alcoa Defense said late last week that it was awarded a $50 million “Ground Vehicle Light-Weighting” contract to develop lightweight ground-combat vehicles for the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC).
Alcoa Defense will develop aluminum weld wire alloys, which already have been helpful in preventing corrosion. The funds also will cover expenses for research, engineering and evaluation of materials used to make new lightweight vehicles.
“This agreement with TARDEC builds on Alcoa Defense’s decades-long partnership with the U.S. Army to advance military ground vehicles," Alcoa Defense President Eric Roegner said. "Alcoa’s lightweight solutions have improved troop protection while reducing vehicle weight and assembly time. We look forward to building on our successful track record to help develop the next-generation combat vehicle.”
Alcoa has worked with the U.S. Army on combat vehicles before. In 2005, it was awarded a contract to create lightweight aluminum products for combat vehicles for the Army Lightweight Structures Initiative. Alcoa also teamed up with the U.S. Army in the 2013 Alcoa-U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) program. The initiative worked to create the biggest solitary pieces of forged aluminum for the hulls of combat vehicles. The new hulls have proven to function better than previous structures in random blasting events, as tested by the U.S. Army. Alcoa continues to work toward aluminum development and is pleased to continue working with the U.S. Army.
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