`Jackal` suspension expertise improves sit-ski athletes’ equipment and chances for 2014 Winter Paralympics

Dunkeswell, Devon, 16 October, 2012, Supacat has renewed its support for the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team (CSDST) for the fourth consecutive year for the 2012/13 winter season.   In addition to financial support, Supacat’s engineers lend their expertise to fine tune the sit-ski athletes’ equipment.  The Team’s goal is to maximise the chances of the service and ex-service athletes to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.

Supacat’s technical support is delivered through a collaborative industry consortium, the British Adaptive Snowsport Equipment Innovation Council (BASE-IC).   Supacat’s engineers focus on the suspension system used by the sit-ski athletes, applying the expertise they have developed in this area for the company’s renowned high mobility vehicles; `Jackal`, `Coyote` and the SPV400.  The engineers support the athletes with education and advice, specialist equipment selection, ongoing analysis and on-snow data logging so that their suspension is optimised and tuned for all conditions.

This month Supacat’s engineers returned from an intensive, four day work package on the indoor slope in Landgraaf, Holland. A full programme of data logging, suspension set-up and tuning was conducted, helping the team’s three principle sit-ski athletes to understand their equipment and establish base line settings for the upcoming season.  Supacat has been supported by Millbrook Proving Ground who loaned high performance motorsport data logging equipment for the duration.

Supacat’s Head of Marketing and Communications, Jamie Clarke said “We are delighted to support such a worthy cause for yet another season and we look forward to some impressive results on snow this winter.  Our work with the CSDST suspension systems has given the athletes a real advantage and allows them to compete with confidence knowing that their equipment is set-up and performing correctly.  Already this has made a significant impact on the team which is reflected in the international podium positions they have been achieving.”   He added, “We now have all three sit-ski athletes racing on top of the range, custom built, suspension systems.  With our motorsport data logging and analysis our engineers can fine tune each athlete’s individual equipment to optimise their performance”.

-ends-

For further information: Celia Turner, CTPR, +44 (0)7703 344425 [email protected] or Jamie Clarke, Head of Marketing & Communications, Supacat +44 (0) 7921 973916 [email protected]

About Supacat

Supacat Ltd is an innovative engineering company specialising in high mobility vehicles. Since its foundation 30 years ago, it has grown into a product developer with a broadening international customer base across the defence, renewables, marine and oil and gas sectors.

It has a complete engineering capability spanning design, prototyping, testing and trialling, certification and low rate production.  Services include system integration and fleet support, from post design services, repairs, spares, to deployed support on operations (CONDO) and Contractor Logistics Support.

 

About CSDST

The Combined Services Disabled Ski Team (CSDST) is open to any serving member of the Armed Forces with a permanent disability. It is also open to those who have previously skied with the team, but have since left the Services. The disability may have been sustained through action on operations, illness or accident. CSDST aims to improve the individual skill of every athlete who joins the team through high quality coaching. This process encourages and promotes the raw talent of near beginners, as well as providing high level performance coaching up to International level. CSDST’s ultimate aim is to feed athletes into the British Disabled Ski Team (BDST) at the appropriate moment; with the ultimate goal of participation in Paralympic events.

CSDST generally takes novice disabled skiers from Exercise SNOW WARRIOR (Adaptive) (ESW(A)) which is run by the Adventurous Training Group (Army). However, personnel also come to the team after participation in BLESMA ski events. At the beginning of the training year, CSDST feed the novice skiers into a development programme, much of which is run at indoor Snow Centres across the UK. This is aimed at providing basic skills and technique training and increasing skiers’ experience and confidence on snow. In November of each year, those that wish to take their skiing further are able to attend our Skills Camp in Austria, during which their alpine techniques are improved. At the end of this, skiers are taught elementary ski racing techniques and are introduced to “race gates”. Those that show aptitude and a desire to progress further, are then able to participate in the full range of military alpine races from Corps/Unit level through to racing at the Inter Service Championships.

Those skiers who show real promise are encouraged to race at Europa Cup level and, if they achieve the requisite points, may then be invited to join BDST. This will see them participating in a range of international disabled races at Europa/NORAM/Southern Hemisphere Cup levels before progressing on to World Cup and Paralympic competition.

Anyone wanting to join the team should contact the Development Manager https://www.csdst.co.uk/contact-us/. The Chairman would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in sponsoring the team via the same link or via [email protected].

About BASE-IC

Supacat’s technical support is delivered through a collaborative industry consortium, the British Adaptive Snowsport Equipment Innovation Council (BASE-IC). This brings together defence companies who contribute a range of technical skills to improve the design and performance of the athletes’ adaptive ski equipment.   The consortium comprises Supacat, NP Aerospace, Selex Galileo and QinetiQ, who bring innovation and technology from their organisations to give disabled skiers a performance edge and the chance to be the best.   BASE-IC is supported by its President, Major General Carew Wilks (DLE), and by its military partner, CSDST, and the sports charity, Disability Sport UK.

Dunkeswell, Devon, UK, 10 June 2012, At Eurosatory 2012 Supacat is exhibiting the latest production standard Supacat Protected Vehicle 400 (SPV400), which offers improved reliability and handling after having completed over 21,000km of trials, during which its reliability level has increased to 96%.

These improvements were demonstrated in March at Millbrook Proving Ground where the SPV400 (Vehicle 7) performed robustly in pre-feasibility trials for the UK Ministry of Defence’s Multi Role Vehicle -Protected (MRV-P) requirement.

Supacat has focussed on maturing the design since 2010 when it was assessed for the UK MoD’s requirement for a Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV).  The SPV400 is one of only two vehicles in the 7.5 ton protected light patrol vehicle class to have met the UK MoD’s stringent requirements.

“The SPV400 is proving itself as a robust light protected patrol vehicle and is attracting interest in the international market”, said Nick Ames, Managing Director, Supacat Ltd.

A light patrol vehicle in the 7.5 ton class, the SPV400 carries a crew of six (2 +4) and combines an integrated blast and ballistic protection system, including a protected all composite crew pod and V-shaped hull.  Using the latest composite and ceramic armour systems, the crew pod is constructed as a separate module, sealed off from potential secondary projectiles, such as kit and electronic devices, which are housed in a rear compartment.   All seats are mine blast protected.

The SPV400 has exceptional all terrain, high mobility performance and is capable of speeds up to 80mph on the desert plain.

A modular and future-proofed design allows the SPV400 to be upgraded to meet evolving threats and requirements.  The V shaped hull protects the crew in an under-belly mine strike scenario, while the modular approach enables the SPV400 to be repaired in theatre following mine blast incidents by replacing the damaged module(s).

Air suspension provides troops with a smooth ride, reducing crew fatigue and conventional steering reduces complexity.

Supacat is also exhibiting the Wildcat light strike vehicle and the HMT Series (Jackal) at Eurosatory.  In April this year the Australian Defence Material Organisation (DMO) selected Supacat as Preferred Bidder for the Special Operations Vehicle element of the Project Definition and Evaluation phase (PD&E) of JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN).  Supacat’s bid offers the latest version of its Special Forces HMT Extenda vehicle.

Since October 2011 four year 12 Blundell’s pupils have been working on a for real Engineering problem whilst carrying out their Engineering Education Scheme project. Under this scheme a school team of four is partnered with an Engineering Company. The company sets the pupils a design brief which they must then work on.

The pupils from Blundell’s were Gary Abdoll (Team Leader), Will Muirhead (Report Editor) Tom Golden (in charge of design) and Alex Holme (in charge of the presentation). They met Simon Turner and Nick Baker, Engineers from Supacat at the scheme launch at Plymouth University in October.  Supacat are a local company who design impressive world class high mobility vehicles and had been commissioned by the RNLI to design a vehicle to launch their lifeboats, a Launch & Recovery System. The boys were given the brief to design an engine bay handling system for this vehicle. The engine bay plus attachments (weighing approx 2.5 tonnes) would be safely removed and stored exposing the engine for maintenance.
Work on this project took place at school with several meetings with Simon Turner (from Supacat) and Peter Shrubsall (our EES Mentor). There were also visits to Supacat to see the vehicle itself and get an idea of the scale of the task in hand. A residential at Plymouth University in December helped as this gave the team 3 days to concentrate on this project away from their other school work.

A written report of all the designs and research was produced by the team and sent away over the Easter holidays for assessment. On Wednesday the 2nd May the Celebration and Assessment Day took place at Plymouth University. The team gave a 15 minute presentation to a panel of 7 engineers from various industries and were also questioned about their design at their display stand. They achieved their EES certificates for their project and the scheme will help them when applying for University next year as it is widely respected and shows that the pupils were willing to put in that extra effort above and beyond their AS exams. They have learned a huge amount about working in industry but also improved their team work, report writing, planning, timekeeping and presentation skills. I would like to thank all at the EDT for organising this brilliant scheme in the South West and Peter Shrubsall our EES Mentor. Last but not least thank you to Supacat for setting the team’s challenge and particularly Simon Turner for giving freely of his time, expertise and patience.

Jenni Olive
(Teacher Co-ordinator, Blundell’s EES Team)

Dunkeswell, Devon, UK, 16 April, 2012, The Australian Defence Material Organisation (DMO) has selected Supacat as Preferred Bidder for the Special Operations Vehicle element of the Project Definition and Evaluation phase (PD&E) of JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) program and has awarded Supacat an initial contract for this phase.

Supacat’s successful bid offered the latest version of its Special Forces HMT Extenda vehicle. When approved, JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) will provide the Australian Defence Force with a new family of Special Operations Vehicles.  On completion of the PD&E phase the DMO is expected to acquire a fleet of vehicles under a separate contract.

The new vehicle, while retaining a high level of commonality with the Australian Army’s existing `Nary` HMT fleet, delivered by Supacat in 2009, provides improved capabilities, particularly, in the areas of crew protection and vehicle versatility.   Supacat’s HMT is the most capable vehicle in its class with proven operational experience.  It combines high levels of performance in the areas of mobility, protection, payload and firepower into an intuitive vehicle to operate and maintain.  It has demonstrated its reliability, flexibility and capability on extended operations around the world and is the vehicle of choice for the elite land forces of the world’s most active and influential armies.

Supacat will deliver the program through the Supacat Team Australia program office based in Melbourne. Supacat Team Australia is made up of 14 Australian industry partners who will provide the capabilities to deliver the production vehicles and the ongoing through life support of the fleet.

Mick Halloran, Managing Director, Supacat Pty Ltd, said, “Being selected for this key Australian program is a huge achievement for Supacat.   We are looking forward to working with the Commonwealth, their preferred prime systems integrator for the command and control element, Elbit Systems of Australia, and our Supacat Team Australia partners to successfully deliver this first phase of REDFIN 1B. It is the launch pad for Supacat Pty in the Australian defence market”.

Nick Ames, Managing Director of Supacat Ltd, said, “The REDFIN 1B award is pivotal to Supacat’s expansion and confirms the superiority of our HMT series as the Special Operations `vehicle of choice`.  With our development of an in-country design and engineering capability, it positions Supacat to access future opportunities in the expanding Australian defence market as well as in diversified industry sectors in the Asia Pacific region”.

Designed for use by Special Forces, the HMT Extenda is unique in being convertible to either a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration to meet different operational requirements by inserting or removing a self-contained third axle unit. Like other HMT series platforms, the HMT Extenda can be supplied with optional mine blast and ballistic protection kits and with a variety of mission hampers, weapons, communications, ISTAR and force protection equipment to suit a wide range of operational roles. Supacat’s REDFIN 1B solution offers capability improvements in the key areas of firepower, protection, capacity, operability and safety, based upon direct feedback from the worldwide operational use of existing HMT fleets. There are also a number of options offered that the Commonwealth may wish to choose from.

 

The innovative design house and high mobility vehicle specialist, Supacat, has appointed Chris Compton, FRAeS, as Director and General Manager, responsible for the company’s day-to-day business operations and the leadership of the senior management team.

Chris brings to Supacat over 30 years experience in the defence and aerospace industry and a strong track record in Operations, Project Management and Customer Support.   He was formerly Managing Director of Marine Data Systems and has held senior positions with Rolls-Royce, GKN Westland Helicopters, WS Atkins and Brittan-Norman Aircraft, where he was also Managing Director.

Chris is a Mechanical Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

On his appointment, Chris commented, “Supacat is a great business with highly capable and innovative people and my role is to harness this capability to drive improved operational performance and to grow a sustainable business.  This means staying focused on supporting our customers and successfully delivering on programmes”.

Nick Ames, Managing Director, Supacat Ltd, said, “We very pleased to welcome Chris at an exciting stage in Supacat’s development as a business.  His considerable management capabilities with similar sized, innovation-led companies will free up myself and Founder, Nick Jones, to take a more strategic role in diversifying the company into new regional markets and sectors, such as oil and gas, renewables and marine where we have already made some successful inroads”.

Canberra, ACT 13 October 2011, Supacat announced today the operational launch of Supacat in Australia and the launch of Supacat Team Australia, comprising 15 Australian partner companies, to bid, build and deliver the JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) programme for the Australian Defence Material Office (DMO).

Supacat Team Australia is bidding the Special Forces HMT Extenda vehicle, which shares commonality with the Nary HMT fleet, delivered by Supacat to the DMO in 2009. The DMO is expected to announce its vehicle selection by the end of the year.

Supacat will be led by Australian national, Michael Halloran, who will transfer as Managing Director from his current position as Director & General Manager of Supacat’s UK operations. Halloran has a strong track record in developing new businesses and extensive industry experience gained with Australian, UK and US prime contractors.

“Supacat will be first and foremost an engineering company, solving problems and developing products focussed on the people that use them, whether they be soldiers, drillers, lifeboat pilots or miners. Secondly, we will be an effective and efficient prime contractor, delivering on time, to cost and to quality”, said Halloran.

Also attending the launch was Nick Jones, Director and Founder of Supacat. Jones commented, “We have built Supacat into a strong business over the past 30 years and we are very excited to be opening our first international office.”

To form Supacat Team Australia, Supacat conducted a rigorous down-select process to identify industry partners, who have all agreed MoUs. Supacat Team Australia will work in partnership to deliver the entire program efficiently, on a best value for money basis, within Australia. Supacat has already established its Global Support Solution in Australia in partnership with VEEM Pty Ltd to support vehicles in service with Australian forces and this will be expanded to support the REDFIN Ph 1B fleet.

Supacat Team Australia partners include: Aerostaff, Andrew Engineering, Baker and Provan, Broens Industries, Cablex, Eggler Consulting Engineers, Hallmark Logistics & Engineering, Hofmann Engineering, Marand Precision Engineering, PS Management Consultants, QinetiQ, Tectonica Australia, Unique Solution Partners and VEEM.

“Supacat Team Australia offers the Australian Defence Force an Australian led solution, built, delivered and supported by local industry. The delivery of the REDFIN 1B project will provide an enduring legacy of Australian capability and provide local companies with entry to global supply chains,” said Halloran.

Supacat is an innovative engineering company specialising in high mobility vehicles. Since its foundation 30 years ago, it has grown into a product developer with a broadening international customer base across the defence, renewables, marine and oil and gas sectors.

 

 

 

At DSEi 2011 Supacat is unveiling the production standard Supacat Protected Vehicle 400 (SPV400), which has achieved new levels of reliability and significantly improved ride and handling as a result of an intensive year long development programme. The vehicle also features enhanced maintainability, a revised driver interface and new front end styling. The 7th vehicle at the latest configuration will be on show at stand N9-380.

Supacat has continued to rapidly develop the SPV400 to mature the design from the prototype testing phase to a production standard. Since being assessed for the UK MoD’s Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV) requirement last year, Supacat has subjected the SPV400 to over 10,000 km of reliability testing with over 70% conducted off-road, more than doubling the total trials distances undertaken during the LPPV assessment.

“The new production standard SPV400 is a significantly improved vehicle from the early prototypes. We have achieved new levels of reliability, handling and overall usability in the automotive design that surpass those required by LPPV”, said Nick Ames, Managing Director, Supacat. “This is a vastly different vehicle from the one we had twelve months ago and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made”.

Supacat continued to develop the SPV400 light protected patrol vehicle to meet international demand for this new class of vehicle in military and non-military markets. The SPV400 is one of only two vehicles to succeed in meeting the UK Ministry of Defence’s demanding requirements for its new Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV).

 

Canberra, ACT 15 August, Supacat Team Australia submitted its bid today to the Australian Defence Material Office (DMO) for the JP2097 Ph 1B (REDFIN) programme, offering the proven Special Forces HMT Extenda vehicle at the very latest configuration to meet the requirement.
The Supacat HMT series is world renowned as the vehicle of choice for Special Forces, including Australia. The REDFIN 1B vehicle shares commonality with the Nary HMT fleet, which Supacat successfully delivered to the DMO in October 2009. Supacat is a proven supplier to the DMO and to the UK Ministry of Defence for whom it has delivered over 500 HMT vehicles, Jackal and Coyote, into service in Afghanistan.

Supacat has selected and signed MOUs with proven Australian suppliers to form Supacat Team Australia. The team will build and deliver REDFIN Ph 1B efficiently and on a best value basis for the Commonwealth of Australia whilst creating and sustaining high value Australian jobs. Supacat’s Global Support Solution is already supporting in-service vehicles in Australia and will be expanded to support the REDFIN Ph 1B fleet.

Designed for use by Special Forces, the HMT Extenda is unique in being convertible to either a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration to meet different operational requirements by inserting or removing a self-contained third axle unit. Like other HMT series platforms, the HMT Extenda can be supplied with optional mine blast and ballistic protection kits and with a variety of mission hampers, weapons, communications, ISTAR and force protection equipment to suit a wide range of operational roles. Supacat’s 1B solution offers capability improvements in the key areas of firepower, protection, capacity, operability and safety based upon direct feedback from the worldwide operational use of existing HMT fleets. There are also a number of options offered that the Commonwealth may wish to choose from.

Nick Ames, Managing Director of Supacat said, “The HMT Extenda is a proven off the shelf capability and the best in class to meet the REDFIN requirement while offering the cost benefits of fleet commonality within Australian forces. Supacat has proven itself as a supplier to DMO and is fully committed to partnering with Australian industry to transfer capability and give local companies entry into global supply chains”.

UK motorsport vehicle transfer into defence is industry first.

Supacat is launching a military variant of the Rally Raid proven Wildcat into the worldwide defence market to offer a high performance, off road vehicle for special forces, border patrol, reconnaissance, rapid intervention or strike roles. Filling a significant gap that currently exists between lightweight and less expensive high mobility platforms such as quad bikes and the heavier, more specialist and well renowned Jackal, the performance on offer with the Wildcat is unrivalled. The teaming of Supacat and QT Services will provide race-bred capability in a fully integrated military variant of the race car at an affordable price. The transfer and modification of an entire UK vehicle from the motorsport Industry into a military role by Supacat is an industry first.

Supacat has partnered with Wildcat Design Authority and manufacturer, QT Services, to deliver a fully integrated military variant of Wildcat 500 DKR, which boasts unrivalled high speed performance in harsh environments for a vehicle in its size and weight class. Supacat is responsible for militarising the vehicle, including systems integration and volume production. A variety of lightweight armour solutions, weapons and communications systems can be fitted to meet each customer’s requirements. Supacat will be displaying a militarised variant of Wildcat at DSEi in September.

“Wildcat’s rugged and high performance profile is an ideal fit with Supacat, given our unrivalled pedigree in high mobility military vehicles with outstanding off road performance, such as Jackal, Coyote and the SPV400”, said Jamie Clarke, Sales and Marketing Manager, Supacat. He continued: “Compared to other ‘Modified Off The Shelf’ vehicles, the Wildcat is on a different level in terms of performance and durability. It has the race results to prove it can perform in the desert and other environments, it is light and agile yet big enough to carry the sub-systems required on operations. As military vehicles have become heavier and more expensive due to increased protection requirements, we perceive that there is a gap in the market for a platform like the Wildcat. We have a history of successfully using the motorsport industry to enhance our current products, hence Jackal has over 14 motorsport companies in its supply chain. However this is the first time we’ve taken an entire platform from the racing sector and marketed it into defence. It’s very exciting!”.

The Wildcat has a tubular space-frame chassis and state of the art suspension with an outstanding reputation for rugged reliability. With a Gross Vehicle Weight of 2580kg and size (3800mm x 1755mm) it is easily air portable. Maximum speed is 106 mph (170km/h) and range is 2000km. The Wildcat is available with specially developed air conditioning to greatly reduce crew fatigue. It also shares some parts with Land Rover so the logistic footprint is reduced for any military customer who already has Land Rovers in service.

QT Services’s Managing Director, Dave Marsh commented, “we are delighted to have reached this agreement with Supacat. We are two UK companies based in the South West who share a similar ethos; our companies are a good cultural fit. The Wildcat fits in well with Supacat’s existing product range of high performance vehicles and we’re very much looking forward to tackling new markets with a well-proven product”.

 

 

 

Supacat is showing its Extenda variant of the high mobility `Jackal` (HMT400) in the company’s debut attendance at IDET 2011, Prague, and highlighting the vehicle’s versatility in the specialist forces role and proven performance. Supacat is represented in the Czech Republic by MPI Group and is exhibiting the Extenda in 4×4 configuration on MPI’s stand.
Jackal and all variants of the HMT vehicle platform were specifically designed and developed by Supacat for use by specialist forces and are used by numerous nations’ armed forces worldwide. Their combined protection, firepower and supreme off road performance also met the specific urgent operational requirements of the British Army in Afghanistan and led to over 400 `Jackal` weapons-mounted 4×4 patrol vehicles and over 70 `Coyote` 6×6 Tactical Support Vehicle Light (TSV(L)) entering service in recent years.
At IDET Supacat is displaying the ‘convertible’ HMT Extenda variant. It is unique as it can be configured either as a 4×4 or 6×6 to meet different operational needs by inserting or removing a modular, self-contained third axle unit. The conversion can be completed within hours. The hamper has also been designed as a modular system to enable rapid conversion. Using the HMT variable height air suspension system, HMT Extenda matches the capabilities of its sister HMT 400 Jackal (4×4) and HMT600 Coyote (6×6) platforms.
“Supacat’s HMT family of vehicles, widely known as ‘Jackal’, deliver unmatched performance in the specialist forces role. Its design has been continually upgraded, driven by direct operational feedback, ensuring it remains the vehicle of choice for this role”, said Jamie Clarke, Sales and Marketing Manager, Supacat. “Jackal and its sister HMT variants are proven in service with the most demanding specialist forces and have been acclaimed for their performance, versatility and agility on operations in Afghanistan”.
Leading up to IDET Supacat has been in the region demonstrating the vehicle’s performance to a number of different customers, “they have all been highly impressed with everything we have been able to show them”, said Clarke.
All the HMT series variants can be supplied with an optional mine blast and ballistic protection kit and can be fitted with a variety of mission hampers, weapons, communications, ISTAR and force protection equipment to suit a wide range of operational roles.