The Ceradyne, Inc Bull
was developed to address US military's future requirements for
MRAP II. The
vehicle uses a standard Military off-the-shelve Medium
Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) truck chassis, produced
by Oshkosh, applied with advanced armor design and materials
providing enhanced protection against mines, small arms, improvised
explosive devices (IED) and Explosive
Formed Projectiles (EFP) threats.
The vehicle is configured to accommodate six or 10 troops in
a highly protected hull. According to Ceradyne, the Bull design
has been subjected to, and has withstood, EFP. (more...)
The elevated armored cabin is surrounded up to 3/4 of its height
with flat thick side armor, protecting the vehicles against
most vulnerable standoff attacks by EFP based roadside IEDs.
This armor adding to the cab's integral sloped (V shaped) hull
is protecting the Bull from attacks underneath. The integrated
flat armor surface increases both ballistic and blast protection
by avoiding the weak points and seams created by common add-on
armor, associated with earlier solutions. This concept also
motivated designers to eliminate side doors, making the Bull
accessible only from the rear door. (Emergency escape could
be provided through hinged side window panels). All vulnerable
elements were removed from the lower section and moved back
to the flatbed at the vehicle's rear, including the fuel tank,
air conditioning and auxiliary power unit. In addition to the
standard and special armor, the Bull uses thick two-piece armored
windshields and small side and rear windows improving surrounding
situational awareness. The current model does not have firing
ports.
The vehicle is developed by an industry team including Oshkosh
Truck Corp., Ceradyne and Ideal Innovations. Sofar the team
developed two prototypes, representing the 6 and 10 troop variants.
The first two Bulls were delivered to the US Army for testing
at the Aberdeen proving ground.
>