Misplaced Pages

#845154

22-471: 2x Brushless permanent magnet motors 215 hp, 400 ft.lbf The MillenWorks Light Utility Vehicle (LUV) is a prototype testbed for automotive technologies. It was designed and built by MillenWorks under contract to the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center . Textron Marine and Land Systems will use the platform for further development of component technologies. The vehicle

44-531: A quick-release windshield for emergency egress. The front and rear sub-frames are identical, along with interchangeable suspension corners, which reduces the number of required spare parts. The throttle , braking system , and steering are all x-by-wire control systems . The driver sits in a centered position, similar to Rod Millen's Pikes Peak race cars and the McLaren F1 . It is transportable by C-130 , CH-47 , and CH-53 . MillenWorks MillenWorks

66-625: A second facility in 1865, the Yuma Quartermaster Depot , to act as a supply base for Army posts throughout Arizona and parts of New Mexico. Supplies were delivered by riverboats and transported from the depot to military outposts by wagon. After Fort Yuma and the Yuma Quartermaster Depot closed in the 1880s, the Army did not return to Yuma on a permanent basis until World War II. Yuma Proving Ground traces its history to Camp Laguna and

88-523: Is "environmental testing," which makes the proving ground the Army's environmental test expert. The presence of the U.S. Army in Yuma goes back to 1850, when Fort Yuma was constructed on a hill overlooking the important Yuma crossing of the Colorado River. Soldiers at Fort Yuma maintained peace and protected the important Yuma crossing, which was used by thousands of travelers each year. The Army constructed

110-958: Is the largest employer in Yuma County. In a typical year, over 500,000 artillery, mortar and missile rounds are fired, 36,000 parachute drops take place, 200,000 miles (320,000 km) are driven on military vehicles, and over 4,000 air sorties are flown from YTC's Laguna Army Airfield . About 10 percent of the YTC's workload is training. In a typical year, dozens of units come to the facility for realistic desert training, especially before deploying overseas. YTC's clean air, low humidity, skimpy rainfall  – only about 3 inches (76 mm) per year – and annual average of 350 sunny days, add up to almost perfect testing and training conditions. Urban encroachment and noise concerns are nonexistent problems, unlike at many other military installations. YTC tests improvised explosive devices , commonly known as IEDs,

132-602: The Aberdeen Proving Ground . It also developed automotive performance parts for the Mazda Miata , and cooperated with Toyota Racing Development on parts for the Toyota Celica and Lexus IS300 . Yuma Proving Grounds Yuma Proving Ground ( YPG ) is a United States Army series of environmentally specific test centers with its Yuma Test Center (YTC) being one of the largest military installations in

154-585: The Baja 1000 . MillenWorks was often contracted to develop technologies for upcoming concept cars. They developed the revolutionary drivetrain seen on the Jeep Hurricane , which allows it to spin in place using independent four wheel steering . They also developed the hybrid electric four wheel drive system seen on the Ralliart Mitsubishi Eclipse concept car, and many of the mechanisms seen on

176-691: The Scion FUSE . Other projects included the Chrysler ME Four-Twelve , Lexus IS 430, Porsche Carrera GT Concept, Toyota Ultimate Celica, Lexus Streetrod, and the Toyota Retrocruiser. MillenWorks also developed manned and unmanned ground vehicles and technology for the military , such as the MillenWorks Light Utility Vehicle . With Lord Corporation , they also developed an active magneto rheological suspension for

198-564: The U.S. Army 's Stryker , which was tested at the Yuma Proving Grounds . They teamed with Lockheed Martin on several other projects, including the RST-V , unmanned ground combat vehicle , Gladiator tactical unmanned ground vehicle , and the multifunctional utility/logistics and equipment (Mule) vehicle. They also developed diesel-electric drivetrains for the HMMWV , which were tested at

220-452: The driveshaft common on most 4WD vehicles, and reduces the chances of an IED "mobility kill", since a hit in either the front or rear will not completely incapacitate the vehicle. Eliminating the driveshaft also allows for greater ground clearance, which combined with a V-hull design, improves survivability from land mines , allowing the blast more space to dissipate. The vehicle's other safety features include scalable armor protection and

242-589: The Army Corps of Engineers Yuma Test Branch, both activated in 1943. Located on the Colorado River, the Yuma Test Branch conducted testing on combat bridges, amphibious vehicles, and boats. Tens of thousands of mechanized and infantry soldiers were trained at Camp Laguna for duty at combat fronts throughout the world, from North Africa to the South Pacific. Abandoned campsites and tank trails can still be found on

SECTION 10

#1732852275846

264-614: The YTC in an area almost completely removed from urban encroachment and noise concerns. Restricted airspace controlled by the test center amounts to over 2,000 square miles (5,000 km ). YTC has the longest overland artillery range (40 miles or 64 kilometres) in the nation, the most highly instrumented helicopter armament test range in the Department of Defense , over 200 miles (300 km) of improved road courses for testing tracked and wheeled military vehicles, over 600 miles (1,000 km) of fiber-optic cable linking test locations, and

286-452: The bulk of the workload. A heavy investment in technology and a highly skilled soldier-civilian workforce makes the proving ground a significant social and economic component of the local community. YTC encompasses 1,307.8 square miles (3,387.2 km²) of the northwestern Sonoran Desert and conducts tests on nearly every weapon in the ground combat arsenal . Nearly all the long-range artillery testing for U.S. ground forces takes place at

308-461: The facility at a cost of more than $ 100 million after closing its desert automotive test facility in Mesa, Arizona, that had been in operation since 1953. The new facility allows General Motors and Army automotive testers to test their wheeled vehicles all year-round. YTC offers the following for testing, evaluation, and training purposes: Yuma Proving Ground is a census-designated place (CDP) covering

330-568: The management authority of YPG. Realistic natural environment testing ensures that American military equipment performs as advertised, wherever deployed around the world. YPG manages military equipment and munitions testing at three locations: The Arctic Regions Test Center at Fort Greely, Alaska ; the Tropic Regions Test Center operating in Panama , Honduras , Suriname , and Hawaii ; and at YTC. The common link between these test centers

352-481: The most modern mine and demolitions test facility in the western hemisphere. Realistic villages and road networks representing urban areas in Southwest Asia have been constructed and are used for testing counter-measures to the threat of roadside bombs. It is estimated that the track can be used to test about 80 percent of the Army's wheeled vehicle fleet. More than 3,000 people, mostly civilians, work at YTC, which

374-516: The number-one killer of American service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan . Hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles fly at the proving ground each year from the six airfields located at YTC, as do helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft conducting personnel and cargo parachute drops. Many friendly foreign nations also visit YTC to conduct test programs. The General Motors Desert Proving Ground – Yuma opened at YTC in late July 2009. General Motors built

396-661: The proving ground. Camp Laguna lasted only until the end of World War II. The Yuma Test Branch was closed in 1949 and reactivated two years later as the Yuma Test Station, under the operational control of the Sixth U.S. Army. In 1962, the station was named Yuma Proving Ground and reassigned to the U. S. Army Materiel Command as an important component of the Test and Evaluation Command. On 26 July 1973, it officially received its full name – U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground. The following year it

418-403: The world. It is subordinate to the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command . YPG's headquarters is located at its YTC in southwestern La Paz County and western Yuma County in southwest Arizona , United States, approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of the city of Yuma . Of the four extreme natural environments recognized as critical in the testing of military equipment, three fall under

440-412: Was a possible Joint Light Tactical Vehicle candidate, but was not selected. The LUV has a very revolutionary drivetrain layout. The front wheels of the vehicle are powered by an electric motor located under the hood, while the rear wheels are powered by a separate diesel-electric parallel hybrid consisting of a second electric motor as well as a standard NATO M16 diesel motor . This eliminates

462-688: Was acquired by Textron in 2011. Some of the first cars designed and built by the company were the Pikes Peak Toyota Celica and Toyota Tacoma which Millen drove to overall victories in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. Other cars include the Championship Off-Road Racing Pro 4 Toyota Tundra and the SCORE Toyota FJ Cruiser which competed in

SECTION 20

#1732852275846

484-462: Was designated as a Department of Defense Major Range and Test Facility Base. Since its early days, Yuma Proving Ground has been a desert environmental test center for all types of military equipment and materiel. However, developmental and a variety of other types of testing of artillery systems and ammunition, aircraft armament and targeting systems, mobility equipment, and air delivery systems, not necessarily desert environmental-related, now comprise

#845154