ROAD WHEEL READINESS EXPERIMENT

Tracks and wheels are some of the top constituents of ground vehicle mobility and sustainment cost. Even small improvements in performance parameters and support strategies can go a long way. Analyzing equipment sustainment models can help identify these opportunities in conjunction with maintaining a situational awareness of R&D activities. Specifically, understanding component failure analysis, characterizing production road wheel material properties, conducting component testing, and benchmarking diverse manufacturing capabilities provides a roadmap to establishing and identifying “Best in Class” road wheel materials. Establishing and executing an R&D compounding plan to deliver 5X-10X durability improvement is hypothesized. Leveraging the Defense Mobility Enterprise (DME) and its authority under the 10 USC 2370 Section 845 Ground Vehicle Systems Other Transaction Agreement will allow the government to rapidly determine the technical feasibility of realizing such colossal performance expectations.