Phantom Menace: Boeing Solves Its Own Cargo Issue with a New-Age Jeep

It’s a typical government issue: You’ve spent billions of dollars building an aircraft in contrast to any other for the express objective of acquiring troops into remote areas more rapidly than traditional helicopters can. But the outcome, the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey, is so ­narrow that military ground cars cannot be transported with these troops. So when you’ve rushed them into position, what then?

Now Boeing, 1 of the Osprey’s designers, has created a remedy with a name almost as silly as the issue it solves: ­Phantom Badger. Why not just Phantom? Why not just Badger? The 2 together sound like bad-notion Tuesday on Nickelodeon. But Boeing and the military are significant, and the U.S. Navy not too long ago certified the Phantom Badger for flight aboard the Osprey, providing personnel a versatile, rugged option for ground transport. Previously, variations on the civilian-ATV theme were the only autos that fit in the Osprey, but their modest cargo and personnel capacity restricted their usefulness. The Phantom Badger, on the other hand, can carry 3350 pounds or tow 4000.

Courtesy of Boeing Phantom Works

At only 60 inches wide, the PB is 6 inches narrower than a Honda Fit, enabling it to slip very easily into the V-22’s cargo hold. It utilizes the very same 3.-liter turbo-diesel V-6 as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500. Here, the 6 swills either diesel or the JP-8 jet fuel that is plentiful on military bases and produces the exact same 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque as it does in civilian duty. The Phantom Badger weighs in at just below 8000 pounds thanks to its 4-wheel steering, it has an impressive turning circle of only 24 feet—11 feet tighter than even a Mini Cooper S’s.

It has mounts for each a .50-caliber machine gun and a 40-mm grenade launcher, but its size and open-air construction imply it is a lot more of an original Jeep than an MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected automobile). With a best speed of 80 mph on pavement and the ability to ford up to 3 feet of water, the Phantom Badger can go practically anyplace and get there quickly—just like the Osprey. But when the Badger arrives, the troops aboard it will truly be exactly where they want to be.

Pack it Up, Pack it in

The Phantom Badger is developed to travel aboard the Osprey, but Boeing is pleased to pack them into any of its cargo aircraft.

What do you get when you cross an Osprey with a Badger?

Advanced Tactics recently announced the initial effective flight test of its Black Knight Transformer, a hybrid truck/helicopter made for military use. 4 rotors on each side fold in for driving on narrow streets and can tilt forward like those on the Osprey for higher-speed flight. With the potential to be piloted either onboard or remotely, the Black Knight could manage tasks at the moment assigned to the Osprey and Phantom Badger.

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Phantom Menace: Boeing Solves Its Own Cargo Issue with a New-Age Jeep

2015 Ram ProMaster Photographs and Information: Cargo Box, Size Small

Official Photographs and Info

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The European breadbox invasion hits full tilt.

Chrysler’s Ram brand has been busy lately, obtaining just launched its light-duty diesel pickup, HD trucks, and ProMaster full-size cargo van. And they are not completed however. Now comes the newest and smallest member of the Ram family—the Ramily?—the 2015 ProMaster City, which is elbowing its way into an increasingly crowded compact van field that also contains the Ford Transit Connect, the Nissan NV200, and the NV’s new twin, the Chevrolet City Express.

Even with its squinty new headlamps and crosshair grille, the ProMaster City may strike drivers from outdoors the U.S. as somewhat familiar, since the van is essentially a much less geeky-seeking version of the Fiat Doblo that is now in its second generation as a cargo/passenger hauler in Europe, South America, and elsewhere. As was the Transit Connect, the Turkey-built ProMaster City will be imported with seats inside to avid the ridiculous 25 % “chicken tax” that the feds impose on imported light trucks. The vast majority of models will then be converted into 2-passenger “Tradesman” panel vans at the Chrysler Group Transformation Center—yes, that is a thing—in Baltimore, Maryland. (Ford was forced to commence paying the piper late final year there’s no word as to regardless of whether Chrysler will, as well.)

An untold and no doubt quite tiny quantity will stay in 5-passenger wagon form as a consideration for little organization consumers who occasionally bring their colleagues (or their children) to operate web sites, and to fill a bit of the void left when the Dodge Grand Caravan goes away in 2016. With Tradesman models, the sliding doors and rear doors are available with one’s option of glass or metal panels, while wagon models have windows practically all the way about. In contrast to the passenger versions of the Doblo (or the Transit Connect, for that matter), the upper rear quarters of the ProMaster City remain covered by metal no matter the configuration.

Chrysler’s 2.4-liter Tigershark 4-cylinder sends 178 hp and 174 lb-ft of torque by way of a 9-speed automatic transmission in all models. (We hope Chrysler has worked out the kinks in the 9-gear ’box.) As such, the front-drive-only ProMaster City packs the hardest punch of all the fundamental Class 1 vanlets, outmuscling the Transit Connect’s 169-hp, 171-lb-ft 2.5-liter 4-cylinder and outright bullying the Nissan/Chevy twins, with their wimpy 131-hp 2.-liter 4/CVT combo. The Transit Connect is presented with a 1.6-liter Ecoboost 4-banger with 178 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque the upcharge for that engine is a modest $ 795.

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Last week, I had a few large boxes to ship with extended, fragile car parts inside. Each boxes had been 70 inches extended by 12 inches high and 12 inches wide and I needed anything to haul them in. So when the sign-out sheet came around and our extended-term 2014 Mazda 3 hatchback was offered, I thought, “Best, a hatchback. That’;ll haul my stuff.” Obtaining the boxes to fit although, wasn’;t as straightforward as I expected.

I folded the passenger side of the rear seat down and slid the 1st box in. Nope. The boxes stuck out more than the bumper. Try once again. I folded the other side of the rear seat down and moved the boxes so they have been diagonal. My middle-college algebra tells me this is a longer distance. Not lengthy adequate though. Try again.

There have been only a couple of inches left hanging out of the rear so I went up front and moved the passenger seat as far forward as it would go. This gave me enough space for my cargo, but only just, and zero space for passengers. Hatchbacks are generally far better at hauling taller cargo than their sedan siblings, but in this case a large enough trunk pass-by way of would’;ve almost certainly gotten the job accomplished too.

Travis Langness, Associate Editor

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