M9 ACE (Armored Combat Earthmover)

History

The M9 ACE ("Armored Combat Bulldozer") is a military-grade tracked bulldozer used by the United States Army. The system is designed to allow the Armed Forces to dig trenches for a variety of artillery pieces while performing breaching/clearing minefields, crossing/filling trenches, general bulldozers, bulldozers, excavation, route/area reconnaissance, and push/tow trucks and/or obstacles.

The M9 ACE entered service in 1986, and an upgrade program made the machine a viable battlefield tool for the U.S. military. Despite being unarmed, the M9 series has seen its fair share of combat in other ways as well.

By design, the M9 weighed 36,000 pounds and had only one crew member. The car is 6.25 meters long, 3.2 meters wide and 2.7 meters high. The crew sits under the protection of an armored hull structure, allowing them to continue fighting even when threatened by direct enemy fire. Protection from pistols, fire and cannon spray is sufficient. Vision ports enable necessary situational awareness and project management.

The vehicle configuration is conventional, with dozer blades set to the front of the hull and aft of the crew compartment. The landing gear includes a four-wheel sprocket assembly on the fuselage side and the drive sprocket at the rear. The vehicle can raise its own smoke screen with eight smoke grenade launchers mounted on top of the hull.

The M9 series features amphibious qualities and an integrated nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) suite.

Power is provided by a 295 hp Cummins V903C 8-cylinder diesel engine. This gives the vehicle a top speed of 30 mph and a range of up to 200 miles.

The key to the M9's success is its 8.7m3 "scraper bowl" and dozer blade. The hydropneumatic suspension allows the front of the vehicle to be raised, lowered or tilted for grading, digging, rough grading or trenching. The system has a 2-speed winch with a towing capacity of 25,000 pounds.

Since the vehicle has no self-defense weapons, it is often deployed alongside other Allied units such as the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV).

Introduced in the mid-to-late 1980s, the M9 ACE was used by the US Army in the 1991 Gulf War, when Allied ground forces launched an offensive against Iraqi forces in Kuwait. These vehicles played a vital role in clearing road obstacles for major ground forces and breaking through Iraqi Army-prepared fortifications.

Combined with other protective elements, the M9 dutifully disbanded the "fourth largest army in the world" at the time.

Due to the fairly compact size of the M9 ACE vehicle, it can easily fit in the Lockheed C-130 Hercules as well as the larger Lockheed C-141 Star Lift and Lockheed's cargo area Transport C-5 "Galaxy" heavy truck.

By the end of 1992, approximately 448 M9 ACE vehicles were in service with the U.S. Army. Omnitech Robotics International plans to launch an unmanned remote-controlled version as a "Standardized Robotic System" (SRS) vehicle, although this does not appear to be encouraged.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

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Armor

8 x Smoke Grenade.

Changes