Military vehicle

Military vehicle
31/01/2014

Thos Storey's heritage includes designing and building Bailey Bridges for the allied forces during the Second World War but in recent times there has been very little involvement with the defence industry.

However in early 2013 we tendered to produce the cab for a prototype 'snatch and grab' vehicle for Force Protection, a division of General Dynamics.

We were proudly awarded this project and work began in April 2013 with our Engineers working closely with Force Protection to give input into building and welding techniques for armour plated steels.

Alongside the design of the cab itself, our Engineers were tasked with designing and producing all build, weld and part-location jigs. The manipulator required for the final welding of the cab had to allow for it to be turned a full 360° which meant that the manipulator itself had to be large enough to accommodate the cab and completely rotate it - no small challenge!

Work on the cab began in earnest in May 2013. At each stage of the project the cab had to be fabricated, and checked, to very tight tolerances as eventually it had to be incorporated with the other aspects of the vehicle which were being produced by other parties.

A weekly teleconference with the designers, engineers and project co-ordinators from Force Protection ensured that we were all always fully aware of the progress of the cab and any changes or amendments that had to be incorporated.

In early July 2013 the cab had been fully built and welded and we were in the position to be able to paint it. The paint required was to a military standard and not one that we were traditionally used to working with. Specialists from Akzo Nobel gave us unparalleled assistance with both application methods and techniques and the finished product was judged a success

Force Protection took delivery of the cab in mid-July 2013 and the final 'Foxhound' was completed in September in time for its unveiling at the DSEI show in Docklands, London, UK.

The relationship developed between Thos Storey and Force Protection during the Foxhound project meant that in December 2013 we were approached again to carry out the prototyping for their next design and this is due to be completed in March 2014.