Australian Pump has been successful in winning a contract to supply the Australian Army with high tech Envelop covers following successful field trials over a two year period.
The deployment of the new covers to protect the M777 A2 artillery will minimise maintenance and corrosion, creating substantial savings for the Department of Defence.
The covers will also dramatically improve weapon readiness.
“The cover contract is a major breakthrough with the Australian Army based on field trials and experience with US defence forces,” Aussie Pumps’ Chief Engineer John Hales, said.
“The US Army and Marine Corps use Envelop covers in a wide range of applications that include Abrams tanks, mobile personnel carriers and key land based military equipment.”
Australian Pump Industries introduced Envelop covers to Australia with the original emphasis on topside equipment in the RAN’s fleet.
Since then the Australian Navy has widely adopted the product with substantial cost reductions in the ongoing war against corrosion.
“The technology in the Envelop fabric has been proven in some of the world’s toughest environments,” Hales said.
“We were confident that the covers would stand up well in the field trials and we are delighted that the contract has been awarded.
"This is obviously just the start as the army has a number of high value assets that would similarly benefit from the same protection.”
Envelop covers protect key assets from moisture, dust, UV and heat.
The result is massive reduction in maintenance hours spent cleaning and “rust busting”.
The Howitzer cover kit includes a barrel cover, main carriage “breech” cover and a hydrostrut cover. This set of components provides a protection level aimed at minimising the labour involved in maintenance and virtually eliminating deterioration.
Envelop covers were originally developed by NAVSEA for the US Navy.
They are now mandatory equipment to protect all topside assets on US warships with Rear Adm. James P. McManamon claiming that they had saved the US Navy billions of dollars in maintenance costs.
The US Army and US Marine Corp also use the Envelops M777 Howitzer cover from Alaska to Hawaii, from Fort Sill and Fort Bragg.
The USMC even used Envelop covers when the vehicles and artillery are kept under cover.
They found that the cover limits corrosion, saving them time and money as opposed to the overhead shelter just keeping rain off.
Envelop is a unique and patented system that literally absorbs moisture from under the cover by “wicking” damp into absorbent layers which then sweat the water droplets through the outside cover.
The outside layer is of course waterproof and acts as a rain shield as well.
The result is a controlled environment that keeps the asset dry and corrosion free.
Australian Pump has many examples of big success stories for Envelop covers on RAN ships including FFG, Anzac, HMAS Tobruk and Australia’s Minehunters.
The company points out that there are big savings to be made on all defence assets, even those held in long term storage, where corrosion can be an issue.