The US Marine Corps (USMC) has received three Oshkosh P-19 replacement aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicle prototypes from Oshkosh Defense.
The delivery is part of a $192m firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contract awarded to Oshkosh Defense in May 2013 to deliver new fleet of P-19 replacement ARFF vehicles to serve as the USMC’s off-road firefighting vehicle of the future.
Under the contract, Oshkosh will provide the ARFF vehicles, as well as support and sustainment services to replace the USMC’s current ageing fleet of A/S32 P-19A aircraft rescue/structural firefighting vehicle.
The three prototype vehicles will begin the USMC’s testing.
Oshkosh Defense Defense Programs senior vice-president John Bryant said: "The Oshkosh P-19R will replace the fleet of Oshkosh P-19A ARFF vehicles, which were first fielded with the Marine Corps in 1984 and are reaching the end of their service lives.
"With this vehicle, we’ve rolled into one platform our decades of experience producing military and ARFF vehicles to give Marines more advanced firefighting capabilities."
Based on the Oshkosh logistics vehicle system replacement (LVSR) platform and Striker firefighting systems from Oshkosh Airport Products, the new vehicle is fitted with the new tactical wheeled vehicle technologies to support fire emergency missions at military bases and expeditionary airfields.
Featuring TAK-4 independent suspension system to provide exceptional mobility for off-runway response situations, the next-generation Oshkosh P-19R is also equipped with Oshkosh Command Zone integrated diagnostics and automation system to allow crew to conduct firefighting missions with increased situational awareness.
The new vehicle also meets the modern requirements of the NFPA 414 standard, which sets the ARFF vehicles’ design, performance and acceptance criteria.
