Desert Testing of Military Vehicles William L. Snider Yuma Proving Ground, Dept. of the Army Earthmoving Industry Conference Central Illinois Section Peoria, Illinois April 15-16,1969 690354 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Edinburgh, Friday, August 10, 2018ABSTRACT The desert environment, its effect on the operation of military vehicles, and the procedures by which the U. S. Army insures that equipment is capable of successful opera­ tion in the desert are described. The recent history of mili­ tary operations in desert areas is briefly reviewed to show the origins of the requirement for environmental testing, and tests performed by Yuma Proving Ground as a part of the Test and Evaluation Command's independent evaluation of Army vehicles are described. Criteria for successful opera­ tion in the desert and some of the problems experienced are discussed to show the need for careful attention to en­ vironmental factors early in the design of new vehicles. 690354 Desert Testing of Military Vehicles William L. Snider Yuma Proving Ground, Dept. of the Army THE REQUIREMENT FOR military vehicles with a capability for worldwide operation became apparent from experience in World War II and has become a part of the U. S. Army's development policy. The purpose of this paper is to review briefly the recent history of military operations in desert regions, describe the desert environment and show the part which the Test and Evaluation Command plays in insuring the development of vehicles with this capability. The desert environmental tests conducted by Yuma Proving Ground, the criteria for successful performance and some of the problems experienced are discussed to show the need for considera­ tion of environmental factors early in the design of new equipment. MILITARY OPERATIONS IN DESERT AREAS Prior to the development of the motor vehicle, many of the undeveloped areas of the world were off limits for major military operations because of the difficulties of transportation and supply. The world deserts represented a large part of this area. Over 10 million sq miles or almost 19% of the world land area is classified as arid land. The extent of this area is illustrated in Fig. 1, which also shows the "core area" meeting the more rigorous definition of a true desert region (1) *. The motor vehicle changed this to a considerable extent as it became possible to move armies over primitive roads and over some terrains where roads were nonexistent. The success of motor vehicles in Europe in World War I, and on a more limited scale in the * Numbers in parentheses designate References at end of paper. Middle East Campaign of that war, foretold the effect they would have on future military operations. The Italian in­ vasion of Ethiopia in 1935 was the first major campaign to be fought in a desert area in modern times and was largely supplied by motor transport. The wide availability of motor vehicles freed the armies of World War II from dependence on established communi­ cation lines allowing land combat to be supported on bat­ tlefields throughout the world. The North African desert was a major battle area of that war and both the Allied and Axis armies were supplied by motor transport, often over supply lines extending hundreds of miles. Tanks were the decisive weapon of this campaign, demonstrating the value of motor vehicles in the desert, but also revealing that special attention had to be paid to their design, prepara­ tion, operation, and maintenance in this severe environ­ ment. The British Army established shops in Egypt where new equipment was modified to make it "desert worthy" as it was received. These improvements to the lubrica­ tion and cooling systems, air filters and other equipment, required as much as three weeks to accomplish and often delayed the arrival of badly needed equipment at the bat­ tle front. Equipment wore out faster in the desert increa