The ILSC increases Army readiness through the Opposing-Forces Surrogate Vehicle Program

Photo By Mark Cleghorn | A line of M113A3/BMP-2 Opposing Forces Surrogate Vehicles await the final production step – assembly of their doors – in Anniston Army Depot’s Combat Vehicle Repair Facility. The depot recently completed overhaul of 14 of these training vehicles.  

DETROIT ARSENAL, MI, UNITED STATES

11.20.2019

Story by Scott Wakefield 

U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command

The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command’s Integrated Logistics Support Center is stepping up its efforts to overhaul all M113 Armored Personnel Carriers and Bradley Fighting Vehicles in the Opposing-Forces Surrogate Vehicle Program.

In 2016, the Chief of Staff of the Army’s office voiced concern for the OSVs and how they impacted training.

“The biggest impact of the overhaul program is improved readiness,” said Justin King, supervisor of the OSV/AMPV (Armored Multipurpose Vehicle) section in the ILSC. “The vehicles have an extremely high operational tempo and had not had any major attention in years and readiness was suffering as a result,” he said.

The vehicles currently in the program replaced the M60 Patton tank and M551 Sheridan tank which were harder to upkeep due to lack of parts and obsolete systems.

“The vehicles needed a number of redesigns to address these obsolescence issues and known systemic design issues driving causing failures,” said King. “One major redesign was the Thermal Sight Unit, which addressed the OSV’s ability to stay competitive and more accurately simulate a foreign force.

According to the OSV Program Project Lead, Oleg Rybchenko, the 335 vehicles in the OSV program undergo constant use year-round at these training centers and have four to five times more wear and tear than their battlefield-ready counterparts.

“There is a new emphasis on these systems because they are 20-years old,” said Rybchenko, “They are running the entire fleet through the overhaul program to rejuvenate them and make them last a little bit longer.”

The vehicles currently in the program have been fielded since the early 2000’s and need this crucial overhaul to maintain their near-peer capabilities to provide realistic training, according to Rybchenko. “We’re improving their survivability and durability,” he said.

All the vehicles are operational but are unable to fire live rounds. They are fitted with a form of Miles Gear, which is a system of lasers and sensors that allows them to simulate combat.

“They play a giant game of laser tag in a full-scale training engagement that trains our Soldiers, Rybchenko said, “That’s important because without training you can have the best equipment in the world and still fail.”

“Training is very important, that is how our men and women come back alive, because of the training they receive and how they react,” he said.
Anniston Army Depot in Alabama is conducting the overhaul of the OSVs. They have overhauled a total of 111 since the CSAs office initiated the improvement plan, including 75 Seventy-five in fiscal year 2019.

• Date Taken: 11.20.2019
• Date Posted: 12.31.2019 13:33
• Story ID: 357905
• Location: DETROIT ARSENAL, MI, US