I forgot to mention, there is only one way in and one way out. Unless of course you want to come out of the top and be silhouetted against the sky.
I am not intimately familiar with this vehicle, but those look like external fuel tanks on the rear end with the slat armor around them, either side of the door, similar to a M113A3. Seems foolish to put those on either side of your primary entrance/exit. Probably resistant up to, but not including, .50 BMG with self sealing liners. Small EFP would make short work of them.
Was in Aberdeen Maryland at the "tank museum" a few years back. There was a WWII German Tiger that was pockmarked with AP bullets-some still imbedded. The thing that stopped the tank was a single round that ricocheted into a bearing on the front track wheel. It burst the bearing and stopped the tank. Made me realize that everything rolling has the same weakness and is normally not as protected as other places. AP rounds will stop a wheel bearing or if a shot can hit a differential it will not go very far. As with every vehicle---it has to be serviced and the personnel changed on a regular basis. An old Chinese saying says to not attack one strengths---but their weaknesses.
For all of those that think it is interesting and would like to know more... It looks to me that it's just a modification of an MRAP chasis. Fans of the design could learn more about it I'm sure. wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Those aren't fuel tanks on the back, they are just housings for the lights. The fuel tanks (of course) are up in the front. Where else would you put a fuel tank except under the driver. There are two huge weaknesses to any MRAPs: 1. Weight and 2. Manueverability. They go off of hardball, they get stuck. It doesn't necessarily even need to be muddy. On the other hand, it requires a HUGE boom to break them (less of one to blow off all the wheels). If you think you are going to shoot one apart, you are probably going to be on the receiving end of automatic weapons fire. I saw an MRAP used by Route Clearance in Iraq that got hit by an IED made with 100 lbs of HME (Home-Made Explosive). It blew all the wheels off (V-shaped hull directed the force of the blast outward) and stood it on it's end. It then fell over and everyone got out. One Marine had a strained back and none of them could hear. I don't know what the medical assessment was when they got back, but I would imagine they all had concussions. The best way to defeat these things, get away from asphalt and make them outrun their logistics (they get about 7 mpg; ~300 miles). Also, I'm not sure whether the MAXXPRO has run-flats, but the Cougars did not. Nor did they have a CTIS (Central Tire Inflation System).
"rescue" I have been rollin in Rescue's for the past 20 years. Big one's, small one's.....even one's fitted with a 30 ton crane but I aint never seen a "rescue" quite like that one for domestic urban or rural use. BUT... Thanks to some insightful and helpful folks I now know how to get to grammas house! Over the river and through the woods to the B.O.L. we go.........
