SINGAPORE - The Singapore Army unveiled a new recovery truck on Saturday (July 27) with enhanced safety and efficiency features.
Called the Wheeled Recovery Vehicle (WRV), the truck has a recovery capacity of 35 tonnes, meaning it can secure and recover all wheeled vehicles used by the Singapore Army, including the Terrex Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the Mobility 3rd Generation (M3G) Raft.
In comparison, its predecessor the MB 2636A Recovery Truck only had a capacity of 26 tonnes and could not recover heavier new-generation vehicles like the Terrex, which comes in several variants and can weigh up to 35 tonnes.
The WRV is being progressively rolled out into operational service from the end of this year and is making its first public appearance at this year's National Day Parade (NDP) as part of the Mobile Column.
The new truck is equipped with a rotator crane that enables its two-man crew to perform recovery operations from different angles or positions, giving them more options when in constricted spaces. The WRV is also a dual-action vehicle that can lift and winch concurrently whereas its predecessor could only do one at a time.
"This means the WRV can deal with a multitude of recovery scenarios more efficiently, such as when vehicles are bogged down in very challenging terrain," said Military Expert 6 (ME6) Mok Shao Wei, commanding officer of the 3rd Army Maintenance Base (AMB) and operations manager of the WRV.
"Previously what might take two MB 2636A vehicles will now only need one WRV."
For the protected variant of the WRV, crew are well-protected by an armoured cabin, enabling the vehicle to more safely move into close proximity to the army's motorised forces in all kinds of operational environments.
It also boasts a host of safety features to prevent incidents during operations.
These include three rear-view cameras for better visibility when the vehicle is reversing, and five emergency stop buttons, easily accessible by operators, two more than its predecessor. The buttons are located around the vehicle
The crew's team leader operates a device called the Multi-Functional Controller (MFC) which allows him or her to monitor all of the WRV's sub-systems in real time.
"The MFC also does an automated diagnostic test when the vehicle is started up and alerts operators when there are any anomalies," said WRV trainer ME3 Faizal Abdul Latiff, who has operated both the WRV and the MB 2636A.
"It tells us things like the angle of the winch and if the winching or lifting limit has been reached. For the MB 2636A we only had a basic controller which didn't provide any information."
