Check out these pictures I snapped at the Modern Day Marine expo last week of the latest toy from the high-tech camo-makers at ArmorWorks. This jeep on steroids is the Arizona-based company's entry into SOCOM's contest for a high-speed truck that can fit into the back of a CH-47 Chinook.
The Hyena can carry a five-man special ops team and its gear at speeds around 90-mph over some pretty rough terrain, Mark Phillips, ArmorWorks' VP of sales and marketing told me at the conference. The little truck features unique seating arrangement that places the driver on the vehicle's centerline with the four passengers seated behind him. Each passenger seat can be equipped with a machine gun mount (as you can see in the photos) -- two on the side doors, a roll cage-mounted center turret and another mount for a rear-facing passenger seat at back of the truck.
"We show it with M240 Bravos on the two side doors and the rear, there's a center gunner's station that's elevated with a turret ring," said Phillips. "At this show, we currently have a Dillon Aero minigun on it but it can be a .50 caliber, it can be a grenade launcher, whatever the flavor du jour is for whatever battle you're going into."
Here's where the truck gets really cool:
See that big retractable pole sticking up in the photos? It can serve as a communications antenna and as a mast for electro-optical/infrared cameras that can be displayed on terminals inside the truck. This is great for a situation where the truck is hiding behind bushes or rocks. It's also got an infrared lighting and driving system, allowing operators to roll in darkness. Meanwhile, that crazy looking 3-D camo all over the truck is ArmorWorks' own TactiCam system that reduces the vehicle's heat and radar signatures in addition to making it a lot tougher to see the truck with the naked eye -- pretty badass. Read more on the camo here.
More pics below the jump:
