Philip Smart | Adelaide
It is normal to hear that military-grade systems and materials filter their way through to racing and street cars, but BAE Systems has gone the other way, incorporating Formula 1 car technology in to its tracked vehicles.
Engineers at BAE Systems have applied a new upgrade ‘Active Damping’ system to current variants of the CV90 combat vehicle family; breaking speed records in rough terrain and increasing the CV90’s agility by reducing the vehicle’s pitch acceleration by approximately 40 per cent.
First introduced into Formula One in the 1990s, the ‘Active Damping’ system works by sensing the speed of the vehicle and lay-out of the terrain ahead and responding by pressurising the suspension to keep the vehicle on a level plane at all times.
This increased stability across all terrain is helping to reduce the wear and tear on the armoured vehicles and subsequently reduce through-life repair costs for each vehicle, despite seeing each able to travel 30 – 40 per cent faster on rough terrain.
For the crew of a CV90, the technology means a smoother ride and a reduction in fatigue; an important factor on the battlefield. The reduced vertical motion also increases the gunner’s probability of finding and hitting targets.
The suspension system usually operates on carbon fibre racing cars weighing no more than 700kg, but engineers at BAE Systems have adapted it to use on heavy tracked vehicles, some weighing as much as 35 tonnes. In recent trials a CV90 fitted with active damping set a new speed record on a rough terrain course, beating the Main Battle Tanks (MBTs).