Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Tracked Vehicle Industrial Base

This Task Force was charged with assessing the viability of the US tracked vehicle industrial base, given current Department plans, and to propose a definitive plan of action to address any short falls along with cost estimates. The Task Force was also requested to examine the public and private base for tracked vehicles with emphasis on tank engines and to consider options regarding the retention of the Stratford Army Engine Plant SAEP. The Task Force gathered information through a series of briefing by government and industry personnel with expertise and extensive knowledge of military and industrial aspects of the above issues. We also visited SAEP to observe, first- hand, the Textron Lycoming operation at that plant and to receive on site briefings from Textron regarding the facility. Our assessment is that current DoD plans at the vehicle level appear to provide minimal industrial base support in the near term however, we see major issues in the near term with regard to tracked vehicle engines and transmissions and we see reason for significant concern regarding long term systems engineering support