BAE Systems to supply US Army with additional M88A2 heavy recovery vehicles
The company won a $127 million contract for the vehicles said to be among the best of their kind in the world
Eyal Boguslavsky
| 04/10/2020
The M88A2. Photo: Sgt. Kim Browne/US Army
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded BAE Systems a modification contract worth over $127 million to produce M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift and Evacuation System (HERCULES) vehicles for the U.S. Army.
Defense-blog.com said that HERCULES has the lowest acquisition, operational and maintenance cost of any 70-ton capable recovery system, answering the need for cost-effective, self-supporting heavy recovery performance. The M88A2 provides unparalleled capability for recovering today’s 70-ton combat vehicles including the M1A1, M1A2, Leopard MBT, bridging systems, and other medium weight vehicles, according to the report.
HERCULES features overlay armor protection, ballistic skirts, a longer 35-ton boom, a 140,000-pound (63,504 kg) constant pull main winch with 280 feet of cable, and an auxiliary three-ton winch to aid main winch cable deployment. The M88A2 HERCULES is built and equipped to be the world’s best heavy recovery vehicle, Defense Blog said.
The website noted that in September 2019 BAE Systems won a $318 million contract to upgrade M88 recovery vehicles to the M88A3 configuration designed for single-vehicle recovery of the latest version of the Abrams tank.
Photo: Gunnery Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus/US Marine Corps
The company won a $127 million contract for the vehicles said to be among the best of their kind in the world
The M88A2. Photo: Sgt. Kim Browne/US Army
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded BAE Systems a modification contract worth over $127 million to produce M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift and Evacuation System (HERCULES) vehicles for the U.S. Army.
Defense-blog.com said that HERCULES has the lowest acquisition, operational and maintenance cost of any 70-ton capable recovery system, answering the need for cost-effective, self-supporting heavy recovery performance. The M88A2 provides unparalleled capability for recovering today’s 70-ton combat vehicles including the M1A1, M1A2, Leopard MBT, bridging systems, and other medium weight vehicles, according to the report.
HERCULES features overlay armor protection, ballistic skirts, a longer 35-ton boom, a 140,000-pound (63,504 kg) constant pull main winch with 280 feet of cable, and an auxiliary three-ton winch to aid main winch cable deployment. The M88A2 HERCULES is built and equipped to be the world’s best heavy recovery vehicle, Defense Blog said.
The website noted that in September 2019 BAE Systems won a $318 million contract to upgrade M88 recovery vehicles to the M88A3 configuration designed for single-vehicle recovery of the latest version of the Abrams tank.
Photo: Gunnery Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus/US Marine Corps
