Rubber Tracks Make Military Vehicles More Efficient, Durable, and Quieter
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 12.15.08
Looks More Like a Toy, but Performs Better
Recently, we wrote about the fuel consumption of some common US military vehicles (f.ex., the M2A3 and M3A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles get about 1.7 MPG and the M1A1 Abrams Battle Tank gets about 0.6 MPG). This matters because we're not talking about small amounts of fuel: according to NPR, all the tanks, planes and ships of the U.S. military burn about 340,000 barrels of oil per day, making it the "single-largest purchaser and consumer of oil in the world."
One way to make tracked vehicles both more eco-friendly and safer and more comfortable for the people inside them is to use new high-tech rubber tracks. Read on for more details.
Photo: Soucy International, who also makes rubber tracks for construction and agricultural equipment.
The Economist has an interesting piece about this in their technology quarterly edition. But let's start from the beginning...
The Washing-Machine, and Not a Delicate Cycle
Most tracked military vehicles use tracks with metal plates. This has several inconvenients, including severe vibrations (some soldiers call Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) washing-machines) that are bad both for the health of the people inside and for the mechanical health of vehicles, leading to more frequent breakdowns.
These metal tracks are also bad for roads, causing a lot of damage that must be repaired, and they wear out fast. "On average, the segments of a steel track must be repaired or replaced after just 400 km (250 miles) of use." The new rubber tracks last more than 3,000 km (1865 miles) before they need to be replaced.
Fuel economy is also affected: Metal tracks are heavy, and you also need to carry replacement tracks, which means you need a beefier suspension. All things considered, rubber tracks could improve fuel economy by about 1/3, according to TACOM, the American army’s Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command. That's significant when you think about what kind of MPG Tanks and APCs get.
Rubber tracks also provide more traction, in part because, being lighter, they can be made wider than steel tracks. That means vehicles fitted with them do not get stuck in the mud. The vehicles accelerate faster, too, and drivers say they handle almost as well on paved roads as wheeled vehicles do. On top of this, they are quieter.
The only problem is that so far these rubber tracks (many of which are made in Quebec, Canada, by Soucy International) are not yet strong enough for 50-tonne battle tanks. But they are getting there, and already some 30-tonne vehicles are being tested with them.
Via The Economist
See also: 7 Gas Guzzling Military Combat Vehicles
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Forget Going Green Because It's the Right Thing to Do—Go Green to Make Your Neighbors Jealous
- Does Your Car Qualify for the Federal 'Cash for Clunker' Program?
- Is the Cash for Clunkers Program Right for You?
- Travel Green and Save Money without Giving Up Anything (Except Your Carbon Footprint)
- Your Idle Computer Can Save Lives
- Turn Down the AC for Better Skin, Energy Efficiency
So that's nice and all, but perhaps we'd save more fuel by avoiding pointless conflicts like the Iraq war and generally scaling back our military.
I totally agree. Antiwar.com is a site I read frequently..
But whatever military there is, it should be more efficient than it is now..
Next stop, tanks made entirely of rubber! Ok, not exactly rubber, but there are going to be huge changes in building materials in the next 100 years. That which does not bend, breaks.
Replace tracks after just 250 miles? Fuel economy of just 0.6 MPG? No wonder our logistal tail is so long. I read recently that each V22 Osprey needs 27 people to keep it in the air.
Seems to me we'd be better off putting modern fire-control systems into more durable, reliable, and efficient vehicles.
Anyone remember the TV show "The Rat Patrol"? That was based on the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), that fought using weapons mounted on Ford and Chevy trucks, Jeeps, and other vehicles.
How about bolting some canons on the backs of all the F-350s Ford is currently unable to sell? 12 MPG is certainly better than 1.
I would imagine the rubber tracks would also be much easier to replace in an emergency situation. This is no small thing either. I was in an armored cavalry unit, and the people who fixed Bradley Fighting Vehicles had to be some seriously strong mothereffers to perform maintenance on the tracks. It isn't like changing a tire on your Prius.
Oh, and s5, while I agree with you that we need to make sure we never, EVER get ourselves entangled in another needless war like Iraq, once Iraq is done, we will still need to train cavalry scouts and mechanized infantrymen using these vehicles. Even in peacetime, the military uses beaucoup resources training in the field. A more efficient, faster, comfortable, and durable M2 BFV, M113 APC, etc., would be very welcome to soldiers and civilians alike.
what we cannot change out of will we may change out of necessity.
in other words once we get so broke that we simply cannot borrow money as a nation THEN we will be forced to cut something back.....a good place to start would be to to try to solve conflicts diplomatically.
thank god we finally got rid of bush.....300,000 barrels of oil per day! OMG
Throw a track, and life is bad.
HIt a mine or get hit with an IED with a ruubber track, you replace the entire track.
Steel tracks can be broken down and the damaged bits replaced - look at tracked vehicles and note they carry spare track section.
Q. How many track pins (P/N 7074454) do you tighten in an M48 Patton tank track for routine maintenance? A. Way too many!
"HIt a mine or get hit with an IED with a ruubber track, you replace the entire track.
Steel tracks can be broken down and the damaged bits replaced - look at tracked vehicles and note they carry spare track section."
True, but if metal tracks really wears out that fast, you'll change them a lot more often than you'll hit mines, so you'll still come out on top.
And maybe a whole rubber track is easier to change than even part of a steel track.
That rubber must be really high tech, though. They wouldn't use it if it was much more fragile in combat situations than what they are replacing.
So instead of a good hit with a RPG you could take out a tank with a Molotov cocktail? Next they could save fuel by replacing the armor with lightweight plastics. Tracks are the weakest point on the tank already. Disable one and the crew become siting targets.
Tracks are the weakest point on the tank already. Disable one and the crew become siting targets.
This reminds me of a video by The Onion where hybrid aircraft carriers are used to reduce the amount of oil needed.
Three cheers for a vast US empire that is environmentally friendly. I wonder if they will also go vegan and perhaps fair trade?
Please, this is absurd for an environmental website. Perhaps the military analysts will love this but it has got nothing to do with sustainability...klike such a thing could exist in a war.
This has nothing to do with being in pointless wars or empire. Almost all countries have troop carriers and tanks, and this could save lots of oil.
This is a GREAT quote:
"...How about bolting some canons on the backs of all the F-350s Ford is currently unable to sell? 12 MPG is certainly better than 1..."
Thanks for the highly intelligent suggestion.
The bullet proofing and ammo you need to haul around will get you down to about ...hmm maybe 4 mpg
But:
Huge savings-and you don't have to bail out the Big Three!
Seriously, please do travel more - Europe highly recommended!
The issue of burning tracks could be solved by installing fire suppression systems for them.
Why not segmented rubber tracks instead of one-piece?
The thing is, we don't know the properties of this rubber. It might be reinforced with carbon nanotubes and harder than steel, for all we know. It's classified, so hard to find out..
Tracks made from Rubber? Are you kidding me?
3 shots with an AK-47 rifle will shred the rubber tracks off the tank.
You cant do that with the current tanks with steel tracks.
sound convinient