Vyper Fast Attack Vehicle
Need to go over 120 miles/hour where there are no roads? You can see The Vyper Fast Attack Modular Vehicle on Engineering TV. Vyper Adamas can deliver this and much more with its modular Vyper Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV) (Fig. 1). The Modular POD design makes the payload part of the structure that is powered by a rear-mounted, Chevy Duramax V-8 diesel with over 1000 ft-lbs of torque or a 650 hp specially modified Dodge Viper V-10. to their specifications. This includes NASCAR cooling and Baja air filtration. Each wheel has its own automatic hydraulic jack making tire changes a trivial exercise. They can also turn the vehicle into a stable and level platform.
The stackable PODs can be up to 6000 pounds and a number of PODs have already been designed and delivered. Following the FAV theme, there are troop transport, holding cell and medical triage PODs. The M104 Weapons POD can include anything from a Dillon Mini-gun to an M240 weapon station.
PODs are not limited to military applications and most are utilized in other areas such as rescue and fire suppression. The M108 water container POD holds up to 713 gallons. A similar size fuel container can be linked to the extended range 60 gallon fuel tank that can fit under a POD providing a 1200 mile range.
The heavy-duty active suspension system is impressive. It dynamically adjusts the balance of the vehicle so it is more like riding in a Cadillac on a smooth road than an off road dune buggy. This can be critical when driving along the side or a hill or up a steep incline preventing accidents. Vyper is not providing lots of details about the computers controlling the suspension system but videos highlight the stability of the system.
The passenger area has room for three seats with the driver in the center. A helmet mount display system is being used in some applications and automonous robotic control is also being worked on.
The tubular construction relies on top quality materials to handle the rugged environments that the vehicle will normally be subjected to. The PODs are designed to fit into and be part of that system. Self-unloading is an optional feature.
The POD architecture allows a single vehicle to be used for a variety of chores albeit one at a time. It has been designed for everything from border patrol to disaster recovery. It can even fit the SuperSuker POD E oil spill recovery pumps.
