The Evaluation of
Military Vehicle Concepts
Ronald A. Liston
Land Locomotion Laboratory, U. S. Army Tank-Automotive Center
ABSTRACT
This paper proposes the treatment of vehicle concept
evaluation on the basis of a systems analysis approach. The
author suggests that vehicle parameters be divided into pre
dictable and statistical characteristics. These include trans¬ portability, aerial transportability, weight, dimensions, pay-
load, range, highway and off-road performance in the former
category and initial cost, producibility, reliability, main
tainability, and effectiveness in the latter. Descriptions of
each characteristic are presented. MUCH OF WHAT YOU WILL READ in this paper will likely
impress you as neither startling nor new. Further, you may
be disappointed to find that a usable systems analysis as ap
plied to land vehicles is not offered simply because one is
not yet available. What is new about this paper is a dem
onstration implying general acceptance by a growing num
ber of Government agencies of the application of systems
analysis to the evaluation of vehicles. Tentative steps in
this direction in the past (1, 2)* became confused in the
search for the proper selection of weighting factors, param
eters to be considered, and even in the basic approach, so
that many have been hesitant to propose a systems approach.
However, the demands for improved vehicles to be achieved
at lower cost and in a shortened time span have made the
systems analysis approach inevitable.
Before discussing the subject at hand, it is necessary that
we examine the process by which a vehicle progresses from
a desire on the part of a solider in the field to a piece of
equipment in his motor pool. In looking at this process I
am aware that many readers are quite familiar with its de
tails. However, the majority are not, making it desirable to
establish a common starting point.
SYSTEM FOR DEVELOPING VEHICLES
The system for developing vehicles is an orderly affair
with many checks and counterchecks that act at each step in the cycle. The fact that the system sometimes takes too
much time and too much money is as much a result of its
application as it is of the system. I will argue for a system
more strongly oriented in basic engineering terms and more
insensitive to corporate structure. An approach based on such
an attitude may overcome a major shortcoming of the
present system itself, which is its lack of a mechanism per
mitting the rapid assessment of the effects of changes in
requirements and the analysis of the relative merits of the
concepts at the outset of a development program.
The present system itself is excellent in many respects.
Foremost is the statement by the ultimate customer of the
characteristics of the product. The value of such an attri
bute can be measured by the huge sums of money that the
automotive industry must spend to establish the desires and
wants of its customers. The industry could avoid many hours
of apprehension if the customer was committed to a specific
style and color before a single line was drawn on paper.
The user, or customer, in the development cycle is rep
resented by the Combat Development Command (CDC).
Although the need for a new vehicle may have many sources,
the normal origin for vehicle requirements is CDC itself.
Because CDC is concerned with the establishment of tacti
cal doctrine, it is most natural that the type of vehicle re
quired to support the doctrine would evolve as a natural con
sequence.
After CDC convinces itself that a new vehicle is required
and that the vehicle is essential to the Army's long range
program or to the implementation of tactical doctrine, a
request is submitted to establish a QMR (Qualitative Mate
riel Requirement). This request is sent to the Office of the *Numbers in parentheses designate References at end of
paper. Downloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Monday, September 24
SAE_1965-02-01_650046_The Evaluation of Military Vehicle Concepts
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