For over two decades, the British manufacturer Supacat has relied on automatic transmissions from the Allison 2500 Series for its highly mobile vehicle platform High Mobility Transporter, which the British Army knows as the Jackal, according to a release by Allison Transmission. Allison demonstrates its transmissions on a DVD at Milbrook.
According to the report, the Jackal’s primary mission is to transport soldiers deep into enemy territory and bring them back safely, which is why absolute reliability and minimal risk in these operations are paramount. The engineers at the time combined a Cummins six-cylinder engine with the Allison transmission, supported by the British distributor Mitchell Powersystems.
Allison Automatic Transmissions for Effective Off-Road Driving
In demanding drives over uneven, rocky, or unpredictable terrain, a fully automatic transmission offers decisive advantages over manual gearboxes, since smooth gear changes occur without interruption of torque. The driver does not need to shift, but can focus entirely on selecting the optimal route through the terrain and observing the surroundings, which in a military context can mean life or death.
A remarkable aspect of this long-standing development is the fact that the allowable gross vehicle weight of the Jackal has doubled over time due to additional equipment and armor, rising from around 6.5 tons to currently about 12 tons. The Allison transmission was able to cope with these massive increases without needing a swap, as it continues to operate well within its load limits even on heavier platforms.
Service Life of Over 20 Years
Given service life expectations of 20 to 30 years that armed forces have for their equipment, the vehicles meet these requirements. Supacat therefore plans to continue using the transmission for as long as it is available, since the trust built over more than two decades is based on real-world experiences in hostile environments.
Author: Gerhard Heiming, Wehrwirtschaft editor
