No combat fatigue for Cummins V903
A prominent engine in the Australian trucking industry 40 years ago, Cummins’ V903 never made it to the scrapyard, instead becoming an acclaimed engine in combat vehicles.
The 14.8-litre (903 cu.in.) V8, which has powered the US Army’s iconic Bradley Fighting Vehicle since the early 1980s, will be a focus for Cummins at the Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition in Brisbane from October 4-6, 2022.
In actual operations, the VTA903-powered Bradley has showed a combat readiness of over 95%, the highest combat readiness of any armored vehicle in the history of the US Army.
The big news out of the US is that a new peak rating, in excess of 750 hp, is being developed for the 903, which has been available in recent years with a maximum 675 hp for combat vehicles – a far cry from the days when the V8 Cummins was rated at 280, 300, 320 or 350 hp for heavy-duty trucks.
领英推荐
Confirming the drive by Cummins for greater involvement in the defence industry in the Asia Pacific region, Nathan Usher , manager of Rail, Locomotive and Defence Business for Cummins Asia Pacific, points out that the V903 is a prime candidate for heavy combat vehicle applications where high power-to-weight ratio and compactness due to limited installation space are key criteria.
“The V903 is a vastly different engine today than the 14.8-litre unit that powered heavy-duty trucks in the 70s and 80s,” he says. “As a high horsepower combat engine, it has an unmatched reputation for reliability and durability, using technologies developed by Cummins for its commercial products.”
One of the most enduring engines in Cummins’ long history, the V903 celebrated a remarkable 50 years in service in 2017. The first V903 crankshaft was laid at the Cummins Engine Plant in Columbus, Indiana, in the fourth quarter of 1967, and the engine soon became prominent in trucking, marine and agricultural applications.
The 675 hp VTA903 today powers the Bradley ECP2, Paladin howitzer and Armoured Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) which replaces the M113 armored personnel carrier.