Secure Testing and Expert Engineering Support For Next-Generation Military Vehicles
The challenge of engineering class-leading military vehicles has never been greater than it is today. Defence forces require vehicles to be capable in an increasing range of roles across multiple hostile theatres of operation from peacekeeping assignments and conventional force projection to asymmetric warfare and counter insurgency defence. The next generation of military vehicles must therefore reach ever-higher standards of robustness and mission flexibility, crew protection, fuel economy, in-service maintainability and agility, while also delivering value for money.
Located in the heart of the UK, Millbrook is one of the world’s leading independent military vehicle engineering development and test facilities. “Millbrook is at the forefront of military capability and reliability testing, working with defence clients including a 15-year relationship with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD),” explains the company’s head of military strategies, Julian Bryan. “We are the home of the Battlefield Mission, the UK MOD wheeled vehicle approval benchmark, and in partnership we have developed a set of test parameters that push any vehicle to its in-service requirements and beyond.”
Operating with MOD accreditation for security 24 hours a day, seven days per week, Millbrook guarantees the highest levels of confidentiality. Customers include some of the world’s leading defence vehicle specialists, who value the site’s extremely wide range of secure testing environments.
NIMR Automotive chooses Millbrook
Leading light-to-medium military protected vehicle manufacturer NIMR recently completed a programme of advanced testing with Millbrook to assess the mobility, capability, reliability and overall performance of its 4x4 and 6x6 base vehicles.
The trials, which saw the vehicles rigorously tested against comparable reference products, were completed in order to help evaluate and understand how they respond when pushed to the most extreme limits. Tests were carried out to the stringent ‘Battlefield Mission’ benchmark and saw the vehicles tested on virtually all on- and off-road facilities at Millbrook. The wide range of test tracks within Millbrook’s secure perimeter takes vehicles over challenging obstacles, severe gradients, rocky and rugged terrains, and through water.
Test procedures included brake, acceleration and angle assessments, and were designed to take the vehicles beyond the environments for which they were intended. In this case the vehicles were developed for the harshest, hottest desert conditions, so to see how they would perform in very different climates, Millbrook engineers also tested them in a simulation of the coldest and wettest conditions.
Once testing was completed, Millbrook provided impartial engineering guidance to NIMR, including recommendations on aspects in which vehicle performance could be improved, as well as advice on where design margins enabled savings to be made. These conclusions were discussed in great detail to ensure full understanding and the implications of any future developments of the vehicles were explored.
“With Millbrook’s reputation for comprehensive, independent test and validation, we felt the company was the ideal partner to complete our forward thinking programme of activity,” explains Sean Limbrick, Technical Director at NIMR. “Our work with Millbrook has enabled us to assess the requirements for potential future developments to our two high-performance military wheeled platforms.”
Comprehensive test capabilities
Millbrook boasts in excess of 70km of on- and off-road test tracks, with a range of maintained surfaces for repeatability, mobility and traction. Off-road courses include significant gradients, water holes, and structural inputs such as twist humps. On-track facilities range from high-speed areas and sweeping bends to challenging hill routes and the ‘bone shaking’ Belgium pavé. Water intrusion, monsoon or mist and spray testing employs Millbrook’s water-filled pot holes, splash pools, deep wade troughs and other water spray facilities. Dust or mud intrusion testing is carried out on loose surface test tracks, which can produce anything from fine dust to small aggregate.
Environmental chambers at Millbrook can accommodate any size of vehicle, with tests further enhanced by the addition of solar load simulation and chemical or dust contamination. Combinations of temperature, humidity and solar loading can reproduce just about any real-world climate across the globe, with accelerated ageing achievable through the application of extreme conditions.
All of this, combined with state-of-the-art equipment and bespoke rigs in Millbrook’s laboratories, enables virtually every test, validation and homologation service required by today’s demanding programmes.
“We have developed a comprehensive suite of vehicle and powertrain durability test schedules over more than 45 years’ of test operations, covering a broad range of vehicle types and uses,” continues Julian Brian. “A clear understanding of the challenges of military vehicle engineering is vital to delivering customer requirements for the ultimate in performance across a wide range of mission requirements. As defence industry professionals, Millbrook engineers can provide the highest levels of objective expert advice, supporting military personnel in all areas of defence vehicle engineering and helping to deliver vehicles that meet or exceed expectation in front-line service.”
