Central Tire Inflation: “A Giant Step Towards Soft Soil Mobility”

The need for achieving maximum mobility for rubber tired vehicles in soft soil conditions is well known, but particularily acute for military vehicles. Once the appropriate ground pressure was established, a tire and wheel system had to be developed which could operate for long periods at low tire pressures which were needed to increase the area (footprint) of the tire in contact with the soil. Manually adjusting tire pressures proved to be very difficult and time consuming. An automatic Central Tire Inflation System is required in order for the operator to be able to accurately and consistently vary tire pressure while the vehicle is in operation.