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Commando Jeep
The Commando Jeep is an ultralight tactical vehicle built to support small units performing national security missions across the spectrum of terrain conditions. Commando is a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) vehicle utilizing the Jeep Wrangler with a factory installed common rail turbodiesel engine operating on JP-8 and global diesel fuels. It’s a high mobility vehicle designed primarily for airborne forces, special operations forces, and combat engineers, and may be configured into various utility and specialized platforms including: technical vehicle, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, expeditionary support, force protection, man-optional robotics and route clearance.

The Commando, produced in two-seat, four-seat, and pickup truck configurations, includes a roll over protective structure (ROPS), military bumpers, heavy-duty tie-downs, Kevlar reinforced tires, suspension enhancements, electrical, lighting and other tactical modifications. It is certified for internal transport via CH-47 helicopters and other military transport aircraft. The Wrangler has completed Nevada Automotive Test Center off-road vehicle performance evaluation, and has set world records demonstrating its capabilities. Commando Jeep completed the U.S. Army's Ultra Light Combat Vehicle (ULCV) platform performance demonstration (PPD).

Originally created for U.S. military service in 1941, Commando returns Jeep to U.S. combat operations for the first time since Operation Just Cause in 1989. Jeep Wrangler is assembled at the Toledo Complex in Ohio, and used by Hendrick Dynamics in North Carolina to build Commando Jeep. Manufactured in the United States, Commando complies with the Buy American Act.

Robotics and Payloads
While conducting the Global War on Terrorism, NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces encountered improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during Operation Enduring Freedom. As a result, the U.S. Department of Defense established the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) to develop counter-IED capabilities.

The U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Small Unit Support and IED-Defeat (SUSI) project utilized the Commando Jeep COTS platform for man-optional robotic vehicle with teleoperation and supervised autonomy, and to deploy advanced counter-IED technologies. The goal of the project was “to provide light engineers and special operations forces with modular CIED/Force Protection/Engineering payloads for integration on a small remote/manned vehicle to help detect and neutralize improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and command wires (CWs) from a safe standoff. Integral onboard storage also helps lighten the load for dismounts.”

Integrated modular-design payloads include situational awareness platform (SAP), EO/IR imaging cameras, remote fired anti-personnel obstacle breaching system (APOBS), ground penetrating radar (GPR), counter-mine rollers, surrogate small unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) deployment, operator on-the-move telerobotic interface suite, robotic manipulator arm, robotic boom grapple, A-frame crane, assault ladder, NATO pallet receiver, bustle racks, litter carriers, and HEPPOE multi-power unit with electric generator, welder, air compressor, and hydraulic tools circuits.

Military Commercial Vehicles
Commercial vehicles utilizing body-on-frame chassis with solid axles have been adapted and deployed as military light utility vehicles around the world. Examples include Israel’s AIL Storm, Land Rover Defender, Toyota Hilux and Prado   , and Mercedes G-Wagen. Many of these vehicles are in service with Five Eyes countries, including the Australian G-Wagon and Perentie, Canadian Iltis and LUVW , United Kingdom’s Snatch and Wolf , and the United States’ Marine IFAV , SOCOM NSCV , and Ranger RSOV.

The U.S. Army Materiel Command cites “somewhere between 60 and 90 percent of a [vehicle] platform’s lifecycle cost is in sustainment.” Commercial vehicles include on-board diagnostics that aid in expedient service and fleet repair, while existing global distribution networks provide vehicle sustainment parts, and ongoing factory development and engineering supports continuous improvement in vehicle efficiency and advancement of safety systems such as anti-lock braking, traction control, stability control , and active rollover protection.

Commando is “…a commercial design motor vehicle modified to military specification to meet direct transportation support of combat or tactical operations, or for training of personnel for such operations,” meeting the U.S. Department of Defense definition for a tactical vehicle. In accordance with trends in light tactical mobility and DoD guidance  , Commando has been modified to meet U.S. military operational requirements that previously prevented commercial vehicles from being adopted for certain tactical applications :

Mobility:
The vehicle has passed through the Nevada Automotive Test Center’s vehicle proving ground, which conducts military and government agency testing and evaluation. Its features include a two-speed, ultra-low range four-wheel drive system, hill descent control, water fording, and selectable front and rear locking differentials. Commando is a UTV capable in cross-country off-road as well as paved surfaces and highway conditions. Vehicle mobility has been validated in U.S. Army testing and field trials.

Deployability:
The Commando operates on JP-8 fuel , as required by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Single Fuel Policy and U.S. Army Regulation 70-12, which standardizes one fuel type for all military and commercial equipment and materiel employed by ground forces. Global sustainment is supported by Jeep’s worldwide distribution network that includes over 100 countries spanning every continent except Antarctica.

Transportability:
As required for operational readiness, Commando is transportable by fixed-wing military cargo aircraft such as a C-130 and C-17, by Helicopter Internal Air Transport in CH-47 per MIL-STD-209, and can meet the 4500-lbs maximum sling load rating for all variants of UH-60 including hot and high conditions per MIL-STD-1366.

Survivability:
The Army reports that rollover is the leading cause of vehicle fatalities. Commando is constructed with a chromoly roll over protective structure (ROPS) engineered to exceed FMVSS 216 load standards. Integrated safety technology includes electronic stability control (ESC), of which four wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS) are a component, as well as electronic rollover mitigation (ERM). Research shows “with four-wheel-drive train concepts, ESP [electronic stability program] delivers the expected safety benefits and excellent off-road functionality.” Electronic stability control is a key safety technology built into the military’s JLTV ground vehicle and is included in HMMWV modernization efforts.

Commando is traditionally unarmored, but provides a platform option for survivability through enhanced tactical mobility, and allows forces to exploit unconventional avenues of approach. Commando completed U.S. Army ATEC safety evaluation prior to deployment.

Jeep in Military
The Jeep has a long record in military service. Bantam’s Reconnaissance Car (BRC) was the early jeep prototype later manufactured by Bantam, Ford and Willys during World War II for Allied Powers. This model spawned direct adaptations by other nations, including Japan’s Toyota AK and BJ later J40 and J70 ; Russia’s GAZ-64 later UAZ-469 and UAZ Tigr ; Britain’s series Land Rover later Defender  ; and China’s Beijing Jeep   later Brave Warrior, BAW XB and Xiao Long XLW.

The Jeep M38 and later M151 MUTT were used by U.S. combat forces through the Invasion of Panama, and then replaced by the HMMWV.

A Jeep J8 variant is assembled by the Arab Organization for Industrialization in Cairo, Egypt, and is used by some Middle Eastern countries, while the AIL Storm is built in Israel for use by Israeli Defense Forces.

The U.S.-manufactured Commando is Jeep’s first return to U.S. combat operations since Operation Just Cause in 1989.