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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
FY97 Annual Report

WOLVERINE
(FORMERLY THE HEAVY ASSAULT BRIDGE)

	Army ACAT II Program 465 systems Total program cost (FY95$) $2670M Average unit cost (FY95$) $5.65M Full-rate production 3QFY00 Prime Contractor General Dynamics Land Systems

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The WOLVERINE is an armored vehicle designed to carry, emplace, and retrieve an assault bridge capable of supporting 70 ton loads such as the M1A2 main battle tank. The WOLVERINE provides the dominant maneuver force with the capability to span gaps up to 24 meters (m) with little or no loss in momentum. The bridge, made of four interchangeable sections, is 26 m long, 4 m wide, weighs 10,886 kg (12 tons), and is required to permit crossing of a heavy task force consisting of Military Load Class (MLC) 70 vehicles moving at 16 km/hr. The hull will be based on the future M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) chassis modified to support a two-man crew and the bridge launcher assembly. The crew can launch the bridge while under armor protection from either crew position in five minutes after reaching the crossing site and can retrieve it from either end in ten minutes. The WOLVERINE will retain significant compatibility with the M1A2 fleet. The dominant maneuver force will support the WOLVERINE's bridging operations with ongoing direct and indirect fire and air support. The WOLVERINE will directly replace the existing Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge in selected engineer companies of mechanized battalions, armored cavalry regiments, and heavy brigades.

The WOLVERINE program, due to its funding threshold, was not required to undergo operational test oversight from this office. However, this system does qualify for LFT&E oversight.

Following a significant increase in the WOLVERINE program's procurement objective to the currently planned 465 units, the Army's Acquisition Executive in a memorandum dated June 4, 1996, notified OSD that the Army designated the WOLVERINE an ACAT II program and a covered system for LFT&E. The program was added to the T&E oversight list in December 1996 for LFT&E only. This system is not an operational test and evaluation oversight program. MSII for the WOLVERINE program, which occurred in June 1992, predated the assignment of the system to the oversight list. DOT&E participated in the WOLVERINE LFT&E Integrated Process Team (IPT) beginning in May 1996 and approved the completed LFT&E strategy in March 1997. Dedicated LFT events began in 4QFY97 and will extend through 3QFY99.

The approved LFT&E strategy includes three phases of testing: ballistic testing against a deployed bridge; full-up, system-level testing against a production representative launcher mounted atop a prototype chassis; full-up system-level testing against a production representative system. The LFT&E IPT completed the LFT&E strategy development and finalized test and evaluation plans for, and executed the first phase of, the LFT&E program. Test objectives satisfied during this test phase included data collection and assessment of the ballistic response of the bridge and its constituent materials, calibration of structural models supporting evaluations of the capabilities of damaged bridges, and the investigation of Battle Damage Assessment and Repair techniques with the assistance of soldiers from the Ordnance Center and School.

DOT&E approved the test design and evaluation plans for the second phase of the LFT&E program in November 1997. The second phase will employ full-up system-level tests of a production-representative bridge launcher on a prototype Wolverine chassis. The LFT&E program will culminate in a third phase with full-up system-level tests of a production-representative Wolverine system. The schedule for future LFT&E events includes:

Phase II: March 1998 through November 1998

Phase III: March 1999 through July 1999

A Milestone III decision is scheduled for April 2000.

During Phase I testing, bridge elements were subjected to over 30 events including attack from small arms, mortars, a mine, an artillery shell, and an anti-tank guided missile. To support a realistic system vulnerability evaluation, the threats and test conditions encompassed the system requirements and explored the response of the bridge to more severe threats that could be encountered on the battlefield. These tests explored the ballistic response of the bridge materials and the structural response of the bridge with static loads applied during firings and with dynamics loads applied following firings to assess operational capability following an attack. The dynamic loads consisted of multiple crossings of the bridge with an up-weighted M1 tank (to simulate the full expected load). Throughout the testing, the deployed bridge elements met or exceeded expectations and meets requirements as currently stated.