9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2002 - Page 0058
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2002 |
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56 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) The Armoured Trials and Development Unit Regular readers of this illustrious journal may recall last year the case of the hapless staff officer who was posted to an industrial estate in Swindon to run something called The Cleansing Project. The addition of the word Data into the title would have helped remove the obvious association with mops, brooms and foul-smelling medicine. Contrary to all expecta- tions, however, the job was actually quite successful. Huge amounts of data were cleansed and transferred across to the shiny systems of the brave new world. My plight had not gone un-noticed in Glasgow, however. An escape plan was formulated, and the digging of the tunnel soon began in earnest. I was to be the next Commanding Officer of the Armoured Trials and Development Unit (ATDU) in Bovington, and ended up moving almost a year earlier than I had anticipated. It was time to get the uniform out ofmothballs. ATDU is tucked away in the woods behind the Armoured Base Repair Organisation in Bovington, on the road running north towards Lawrence of Arabia’s cottage. Its principal role is to ensure that armoured fighting vehicles and their associated equipments meet the needs of the people who use them. Work on Challenger 2, Scimitar and Armoured Engineer vehicles is obvious: less so is the work on the associated equipment which can include anything from cookers to flame retardant under- clothing! In short, ATDU expertise is involved through the whole life of a piece of equipment, from its early design stages, right the way through its in-service life. The ATDU input varies from expert advice to the conduct of trials. Much work is conducted on the All-Weather Driving Circuit and the Cross- Country Circuit conducting Battlefield Missions. The vehicles are readily identified on the area with fluorescent green flags, and are often to be seen sporting unusual modifications and extras. ATDU also has a dispensation with the speed limit on the area in order that some High Speed trials can be conducted when necessary. ATDU works to a number of different organisations. It is fund- ed by the Assistant Chief of the General Staffbut is tasked by the Directorates of Equipment Capability (DECs) in London, the Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) in Bristol and the Defence Logistic Organisation (DLO) in Bath and Andover. All of this is co-ordinated by the Trials Planning Office (TPO) in Larkhill. ATDU also works very closely with industry and Dst]/ QinetiQ. It has access to unri- valled testing and workshop facilities and provides an ideal secure environment for trials. The majority are for the MOD but some- times ATDU will run trials for industry in order that they can get their own designs tested and evaluated under realistic conditions. ATDU’s most valuable resource is its manpower. The majority of its officers and soldiers have been posted from Regimental Duty and as such have recent first hand experience of the User’s requirements. Capt Paddy Rhodes left last year and Cpl Langston and Tpr Marley fly the Regimental flag between them. It has an odd Orbat, which is very top heavy - five WOls, but only one Trooper. ATDU is, however, made up of much more than just Royal Armoured Corps personnel. The armoured sec- tion of the Royal Engineers Trials and Development Unit (RETDU) is part of the organisation. It is gearing up to receive the long-awaited Titan and Trojan armoured engineer vehicles, which should be arriving in the Spring, followed by Terrier next year. ATDU also includes the RAC Equipment Support Team. All of these are backed up by a team of REME specialists to pro- vide engineering input to trials as well as maintaining the diverse fleet of vehicles. These groups combine to give ATDU a total The A/ws SCARAB , one of FCLVthebontenders strength of around 85 staff, the majority ofwhom are military but there is also an experienced and capable civilian workforce that includes clerks, technicians, drivers, storemen and cleaners. ATDU is currently the trials and development focus for high profile military equipments such as Challenger 2, the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV), Bowman A vehicle integration, Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV, or ‘Boxer’), A vehicle digitisation, Titan, Trojan and Terrier. It is also like- ly to become the key focus for trials and development of the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES). As this article is written, ATDU is closely involved with around 20 Urgent Operational Requirements, or UO Rs, which are being developed at short notice for the benefit of the troops deployed on Op TELIC. These range from flame retardant overalls for A vehicle crews through extended side-skirts for Challenger 2 to up-armoured Scimitar and Spartan. Modifications that the Regiment can expect to see in due course on subsequent deployments include Mineblast and Ballistic A CVAW} SUM/TAR equped W/th Ba/flst/c Protect/on of the sort be/ng dep/oyed to Op TEL/C |
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