SAIC Develops Innovative Way to Help Protect Troops

Fall/Winter 2006

What began as an SAIC internal research and development effort to better protect soldiers has led to a new force protection capability called the Multipurpose Troop Transport Carrier System (MTTCS).

"An employee had this great idea to develop a troop transport that was armored and that could be put on existing vehicles," said Pete Varmette, an SAIC Technical Fellow.

The system was field-tested in Iraq last year as part of an Army combat operational evaluation, Varmette said.

Led by Chief Engineer Mike Lowe, an SAIC team — which included SAIC Military Analyst Jeff Daniels — designed the MTTCS. SAIC and Teledyne Brown Engineering developed, built, and tested the MTTCS.

"You can take the MTTCS, mount it on the truck, then you can take it outside the base camp, transporting troops under armor; get back, you need to use it to go pick up supplies for the chow hall, take it off, you still got your truck," said Daniels, a retired U.S. Army Ranger who helped test the system in Iraq.

The modular design allows for multiple configurations.

"On the ground, it can be used as a field hospital. It can be used as a checkpoint or a command post. You can dig a hole and bury it in the ground if you need to. I mean, it's that versatile," Daniels said.

Another advantage is the composite armor system, which includes panels of armor that can be added or removed, he said.

"If a new type of armor comes out, they can just unbolt the armor that's on there and — they can just pop off that piece and put on a new piece."

In addition, Varmette said, "SAIC has filed a patent application, and we've got an exclusive license with Teledyne Brown for production. We get a royalty payment for every one of these systems that are sold."

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