The Viking BVS10 tracked vehicle fleet is an essential asset for the Royal Marines and is being upgraded by Baes under contract to the MOD to keep them in service into the 2030s.
Cranfield Aerospace Ltd has performed comprehensive data gathering trials and assessments of five variants of this important vehicle. The trials were successfully completed in a number of phases at the Armoured Support Group (ASG), Bovington, Dorset between September 2013 and June 2015. The trial included all of the conditions that the vehicles may encounter in service including driving on prepared surfaces, degraded roads and crosscountry. As these vehicles are amphibious, swimming conditions were also included in the trial. Furthermore, extremely high rate dynamic response data were also included in the trial. Furthermore, extremely high rate dynamic response data were measured from the Mortar variant during firing trials on Salisbury Plain.
To enable data to be analysed efficiently a bespoke set of computational algorithims and processes were developed. The tools enabled a comprehensive analysis of all measured shock events; with their use come an improved efficiency allowing for automated compilation and validation of environment descriptions and test severtities.
The full assessment of the dynamic response data measured during these trials has provided vital evidence towards the safe deployment and transportation of the weapon systems on these vehicles.
