1.
Mexican Armed Forces
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The Mexican Armed Forces are composed of two independent entities, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Navy. The Mexican Army includes the Mexican Air Force, the Presidential Guard, Military Police, and Special Forces are part of the Army, but have their own chains of command. The Mexican Navy includes the Naval Infantry Force and the Naval Aviation, there are three main components of the Army, a national headquarters, territorial commands, and independent units. The Minister of Defense commands the Army by means of a centralized system. The Army uses a modified continental staff system in its headquarters, the Army is the largest branch of Mexicos armed services. Presently, there are 12 Military Regions, which are broken down into 44 subordinate Military Zones. In both cases, a system is used for designation. There is no set number of zones within a region, the Air Force national headquarters is embedded in the Army headquarters in Mexico City. It also follows the continental system, with the usual A1, A2, A3. The tactical forces form what is called an Air Division, but it is dispersed in four regions, Northeast Mexico, Northwest Mexico, Central Mexico. The Air Force maintains a total of 18 air bases, and has the capability of opening temporary forward operating bases in austere conditions for some helicopters. The Ministry of the Navy, the Navys national headquarters, is located in Mexico City and they are a very tightly knit group, and great importance is placed on consultation among the factions within these year groups. The Navys operational forces are organized as two independent groups, the Gulf Force and the Pacific Force, each group has its own headquarters, a destroyer group, an auxiliary vessel group, a Marine Infantry Group, and a Special Forces group. The Gulf and Pacific Forces are not mirror images of each other, both are subdivided into regions, with Regions 1,3, and 5 on the Gulf, and 2,4, and 6 on the Pacific. Each region is divided into sectors and zones, so a proliferation of headquarters. The Navy also has an air arm with troop transport, reconnaissance, the Navy maintains significant infrastructure, including naval dockyards that have the capability of building ships, such as the Holzinger class offshore patrol vessel. These dockyards have a significant employment and economic impact in the country, the Naval Infantry are the marine corps and amphibious infantry force of the Mexican Navy. The Naval Infantry are responsible for security, protection of the ten-kilometer coastal fringe
2.
Six-wheel drive
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Six-wheel drive is an all-wheel drive drivetrain configuration of three axles with at least two wheels on each axle capable of being driven simultaneously by the vehicles engine. Unlike four-wheel drive drivetrains, the configuration is largely confined to heavy-duty off-road and military vehicles, such as vehicles, armored vehicles. When such a vehicle only has six wheels by definition all are driven, when it has ten – with two pairs of ganged dual wheels on each rear axle as on a GMC CCKW – all are also driven but the 6×6 designation remains. For most military applications where traction/mobility are considered more important than payload capability, heavy hauler and ballast tractor 6×6s have had a long history as prime movers both in the military, and commercially in logging and heavy equipment hauling both on- and off-road. Most six-wheel drive vehicles have an axle and two at the rear, or three evenly spaced in varying steering configurations. Depending on the role, the number of wheels varies between six and ten. Oshkosh M911 Commercial Commercial 6×6 prime movers were made by Hayes Manufacturing, which also produced heavy haul ballast tractors. The Freightliner Business Class M2 is a commercial medium-duty truck sold in the United States, conversions Six-by-six conversions of four-wheel drive trucks are made, such as the Australian Armys Perentie Land Rover Defender and Landcruiser Sherman), as are 6×4 versions. Concept car, testbed, and limited production commercial examples include, fully custom chassis, body and drive-line. Twin front axle Covini C6W Ford Seattle-ite XXI Panther 6 Tyrrell P34 Twin rear axle Dodge T-Rex Ferrari 312T6 March 2-4-0 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6 6x4 H-drive Driveline windup
3.
Amphibious vehicle
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An amphibious vehicle, is a vehicle that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, military vehicles, classic landing craft are not amphibious vehicles as they do not offer any real land transportation at all, although they are part of amphibious assault. Ground effect vehicles, such as Ekranoplans, will likely crash on any, apart from the distinction in sizes mentioned above, two main categories of amphibious vehicle are immediately apparent, those that travel on an air-cushion and those that do not. Most land vehicles – even lightly armoured ones – can be made simply by providing them with a waterproof hull. This is possible as a displacement is usually greater than its weight. Heavily armoured vehicles however sometimes have a density greater than water, for propulsion in or on the water some vehicles simply make do by spinning their wheels or tracks, while others can power their way forward more effectively using screw propeller or water jet. Inventor Gail Borden, better known for condensed milk, designed and tested a sail powered wagon in 1849, on testing it reportedly tipped over 50 feet from shore, from an apparent lack of ballast to counteract the force of the wind in the sail. In the 1870s, logging companies in eastern Canada and the northern United States developed a steam-powered amphibious tug called an Alligator which could cross between lakes and rivers, the most successful Alligator tugs were produced by the firm of West and Peachey in Simcoe, Ontario. One of the first reasonably well documented cases was the 1905 amphibious petrol-powered carriage of T. Richmond, just like the worlds first petrol-powered automobile it was a three-wheeler. The single front wheel provided direction, both on land and in the water, a three-cylinder petrol combustion-engine powered the oversized rear wheels. In order to get the wheels to provide propulsion in the water, remarkably the boat-like hull was one of the first integral bodies ever used on a car. In some of them the amphibious capabilities are central to their purpose, the design that came together with all the features needed for a practical all terrain amphibious vehicle was by Peter Prell of New Jersey. His design, unlike others, could not only on rivers and lakes but the sea. It combined a boat-like hull with tank-like tracks, in 1931 he tested a scaled down version of his invention. Recently, Gibbs Amphibians has developed a new type of amphibian, the vehicles use a patented hydraulic system to raise the wheels into the wheel wells, allowing the vehicles to plane on water. The vehicles can transition between land and water modes in about five seconds, the first Gibbs fast amphibian is the Quadski, introduced in October 2012. It went on sale in January 2013, Iguana Yachts, a French company created in 2008, has developed amphibious motorboats featuring all-terrain tracks. Since then, the company launched their first commercial vehicle, The Panther, the WaterCar can do 80 mph on land, and 44 mph on sea, and can transition from land to sea in less than 15 seconds
4.
Off-road vehicle
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An off-road vehicle is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with deep, open treads, other vehicles that do not travel public streets or highways are generally termed off-highway vehicles, including tractors, forklifts, cranes, backhoes, bulldozers, and golf carts. Off-road vehicles have a following because of their many uses. Several types of motorsports involve racing off-road vehicles, the three largest 4-wheel vehicle off-road types of competitions are rally, desert racing, and rockcrawling. The three largest types of all-terrain vehicle / motorcycle competitions are Motocross, Enduro, and also desert racing like Dakar Rallye, the most common use of these vehicles is for sight seeing in areas distant from pavement. The use of higher clearance and higher traction vehicles enables access on trails and forest roads that have rough, the system uses an unusual caterpillar track which has a flexible belt rather than interlocking metal segments. It can be fitted to a car or truck to turn it into a half-track suitable for use over rough or soft ground. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Kégresse returned to his native France where the system was used on Citroën cars between 1921 and 1937 for off-road and military vehicles, the Citroën company sponsored several overland expeditions with their vehicles crossing North Africa and Central Asia. A huge wheeled vehicle designed from 1937 to 1939 under the direction of Thomas Poulter called Antarctic Snow Cruiser was intended to transport in the Antarctica. While having several innovative features, it failed to operate as hoped under the difficult conditions. After World War II, a surplus of light off-road vehicles like the Jeep. The Jeeps in particular were popular with buyers who used them as utility vehicles and this was also the start of off-roading as a hobby. These were all alike, small, compact, four-wheel-drive vehicles with at most a small hardtop to protect the occupants from the elements, from the 1960s and onward, more comfortable vehicles were produced. For several years they were popular with rural buyers due to their off-road, the U. S. Later, during the 1990s, manufacturers started to add even more luxuries to bring those off-road vehicles on par with regular cars. This eventually evolved into what we call the SUV today and it also evolved into the newer crossover vehicle, where utility and off-road capability was sacrificed for better on-road handling and luxury. Wheeled vehicles accomplish this by having a balance of large or additional tires combined with tall. Tracked vehicles accomplish this by having wide tracks and a suspension on the road wheels. The choice of wheels versus tracks is one of cost and suitability, a tracked drivetrain is more expensive to produce and maintain
5.
Steering
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Steering is the collection of components, linkages, etc. which allows any vehicle to follow the desired course. An exception is the case of transport by which rail tracks combined together with railroad switches provide the steering function. The primary purpose of the system is to allow the driver to guide the vehicle. Other arrangements are found on different types of vehicles, for example. The basic aim of steering is to ensure that the wheels are pointing in the desired directions and this is typically achieved by a series of linkages, rods, pivots and gears. The angle the wheels make with the plane also influences steering dynamics as do the tires. The rack and pinion design has the advantages of a degree of feedback. A disadvantage is that it is not adjustable, so that when it does wear and develop lash, BMW began to use rack and pinion steering systems in the 1930s, and many other European manufacturers adopted the technology. American automakers adopted rack and pinion steering beginning with the 1974 Ford Pinto, older designs use two main principles, the worm and sector design and the screw and nut. Both types were enhanced by reducing the friction, for screw and nut it is the ball mechanism. The steering column turns a large screw which meshes with nut by recirculating balls and this design is still in use in trucks and other large vehicles, where rapidity of steering and direct feel are less important than robustness, maintainability, and mechanical advantage. The worm and sector was a design, used for example in Willys and Chrysler vehicles. To reduce friction the sector is replaced by a roller or rotating pins on the rocker shaft arm, other systems for steering exist, but are uncommon on road vehicles. Power steering helps the driver of a vehicle to steer by directing some of its power to assist in swiveling the steered road wheels about their steering axes. To alleviate this auto makers have developed power steering systems, or more correctly power-assisted steering, there are two types of power steering systems, hydraulic and electric/electronic. A hydraulic-electric hybrid system is also possible, a hydraulic power steering uses hydraulic pressure supplied by an engine-driven pump to assist the motion of turning the steering wheel. In EPS, the amount of assistance is easily tunable to the type, road speed. An added benefit is the elimination of environmental hazard posed by leakage, an outgrowth of power steering is speed sensitive steering, where the steering is heavily assisted at low speed and lightly assisted at high speed
6.
Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle
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The Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle or CUCV/LSSV is a vehicle program instituted to provide the United States military with light utility vehicles based on civilian trucks. Initially, Dodge W/D series trucks were provided in the late 1970s with several military modifications, in the mid-1980s, Chevrolet C/Ks replaced the Dodge vehicles in CUCV I and CUCV II guise. GM CUCVs were heavily redesigned in 2000 and their name was changed to Light Service Support Vehicle, CUCVs are intended to perform background roles, providing support for frontline forces, such as cargo transport, troop transport, first aid, and communications. CUCVs are not built for direct frontline combat use, as evident by their lack of bulletproofing, like many of the vehicle parts, the windshield, cabin glass, and body panels are civilian-grade and offer no protection from firearms or explosives. As a result, some CUCVs were replaced in the 1980s and 1990s by the HMMWVs they were to augment, the U. S. military continued to keep CUCVs in active service long after their projected lifespan. CUCVs of all generations are still in U. S. service, though many M880/M890s, CUCVs and LSSVs are in use as support vehicles for military police, troop transport, range control, facilities, and maintenance. In 1973, Dodge began developing militarized adaptations of their current civilian trucks, in 1976, the M880/M890 series was put into production under a large contract. For almost a decade the Dodges were referred to as 880s, 890s, the term CUCV did not appear until the 1980s when GM was contracted to replace the M880/90s. The M8XXs were an attempt by the U. S. military to use commercial off-the-shelf vehicles with minor modifications in non-combat roles and they were intended to replace the M37, M715 and their related variants. The 1¼ ton M880-series was based on the Dodge W200, a ¾ ton capacity 4×4 civilian/commercial truck, the 880/90s had a 2500 lb cargo rating, enabling it to have a 5⁄4-ton load rating. The similar 1¼ ton M890-series was based on the Dodge D200, the M880/M890s had several failings, a gasoline powerplant, 12-volt electrical systems, and no power steering, due to the PS pump location being used for the 24V generator. The 318 gasoline engine proved to be a fatal flaw as the military moved increasingly to diesel engines during this time period, the lack of power steering was a hindrance in off-road, close quarters, and snow-plowing duties. Around 44,000 M880/M890s were produced during the 1976–1977 model years and faithfully served the Army, an armored variant was built by Cadillac Gage as the Ranger. All M880/M890s were powered by Chryslers 5. 2L318 gasoline engine with a two-barrel Carter or Holley Carburetor and these were rated at 150 hp and 230 lb/ft of torque. Most were equipped with the Torqueflite 727 3-speed automatic, a few left the factory with a 4-speed manual. The 880s used a 2-speed NP203 transfer case, a Dana 444.10,1 front axle and floating Dana 604,10.1 rear axle completed the setup. They were equipped with front wheel brakes and rear wheel drums. 880/890s had a Military rated top speed of 70 mph, replacing the M880/M890 series, the CUCV represented General Motors first major light-truck military vehicle production since World War II
7.
Humvee
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The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, commonly known as the Humvee, is a four-wheel drive military light truck produced by AM General. Primarily used by the United States military, it is used by numerous other countries and organizations. The Humvees widespread use in the Gulf War of 1991, where it negotiated the treacherous desert terrain, since the WWII era Bantam Reconnaissance Car, the United States Army had relied on jeeps to transport small groups of soldiers. The jeep was built around a requirement for a vehicle with a folding windshield that was actually shorter than the Volkswagen Beetle. It seated three with a 660 lb payload and weighed just over one ton, by the 1970s, the U. S. Army had tried larger militarized civilian trucks, but even these no longer satisfied newer requirements. In 1977, Lamborghini developed the Cheetah model in an attempt to meet the Army contract specifications, the specification called for excellent on and off-road performance, the ability to carry a large payload, and improved survivability against indirect fire. Compared to the jeep, it was larger and had a wider track, with a 16 in ground clearance. The new truck was to climb a 60 percent incline and traverse a 40 percent slope, the radiator was to be mounted high, sloping over the engine on a forward-hinged hood. Out of 61 companies that showed interest, only three submitted prototypes, in July 1979, AM General, a subsidiary of American Motors Corporation began preliminary design work. Less than a later, the first prototype was in testing. Chrysler Defense and Teledyne Continental also produced competing designs, in June 1981, the Army awarded AM General a contract for development of several more prototype vehicles to be delivered to the government for another series of tests. The original M998 A0 series had a weight of 5,200 lb, a payload of 2,500 lb, a 6.2 L V-8 diesel engine. The three companies were chosen to design and build eleven HMMWV prototypes, which covered over 600,000 miles in trials which included courses in desert. Ft. Lewis, Washington and the 9th Infantry Division was the unit to employ HMMWV in the new concept of a motorized division. Yakima Training Center in Yakima, Washington was the testing grounds for HMMWVs from 1985 through December 1991, when the motorized concept was abandoned. HMMWVs first saw combat in Operation Just Cause, the U. S. invasion of Panama in 1989, the HMMWV was designed primarily for personnel and light cargo transport behind front lines, not as a front line fighting vehicle. Like the previous jeep, the basic HMMWV has no armor or protection against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats, nevertheless, losses were relatively low in conventional operations, such as the Gulf War. Vehicles and crews suffered considerable damage and losses during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993 due to the nature of the urban engagement
8.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
9.
General Motors
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With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008,8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands, current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, the company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16,1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007, in addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM also has had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon. The current company, General Motors Company LLC, was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation, the new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand General Motors. In addition to its twelve brands, General Motors also holds a 20% stake in IMM, General Motors employs 212,000 people and does business in more than 140 countries. General Motors is divided into five segments, GM North America, Opel Group, GM International Operations, GM South America. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer any other automaker. General Motors acts in most countries outside the U. S. via wholly owned subsidiaries, GMs OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, in 2010, the reorganized GM made an initial public offering that was one of the worlds top five largest IPOs to date, and returned to profitability later that year. General Motors Corporation was formed on September 16,1908, in Flint, Michigan, GMs co-founder was Charles Stewart Mott, whose carriage company was merged into Buick prior to GMs creation. Over the years, Mott became the largest single stockholder in GM, and spent his life with his Mott Foundation, GM acquired Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, also in 1909, GM acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. Durant, along with R. S. McLaughlin, lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. The next year, Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in the U. S. and in Canada in 1915, Durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in American business history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into General Motors Corporation in 1916, merging Chevrolet with GM, shortly thereafter, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed. These facilities were added to the factories that were exclusive to Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland
10.
Vought
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Vought is the name of several related aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace, Vought Aircraft Companies, the first incarnation of Vought was established by Chance M. Vought and Birdseye Lewis in 1917. In 1928, it was acquired by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, which a few years later became United Aircraft Corporation, during the 1920s and 1930s, Vought Aircraft and Chance Vought specialized in carrier-based aircraft for the United States Navy, by far its biggest customer. Chance Vought produced thousands of planes during World War II, including the F4U Corsair, Vought became independent again in 1954, and was purchased by Ling-Temco-Vought in 1961. The company designed and produced a variety of planes and missiles throughout the Cold War, Vought was sold from LTV and owned in various degrees by the Carlyle Group and Northrop Grumman in the early 1990s. It was then bought by Carlyle, renamed Vought Aircraft Industries. The Lewis and Vought Corporation was founded in 1917 and was succeeded by the Chance Vought Corporation in 1922 when Birdseye Lewis retired. A former chief engineer of the Wright Company, Chance M. Vought founded the company to take advantage of the field of military. Operations began in Astoria, New York and in 1919 were moved to Long Island City, Vought made history in 1922 when their Vought VE-7 trainer made the first takeoff from the deck of the USS Langley, the first American aircraft carrier. Following this success came the VE-11 naval fighter and the Vought O2U Corsair, in 1928, the company was acquired by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, but stayed its own separate division among the likes of Pratt & Whitney and Boeing. Despite the Great Depression, Vought continued to design and manufacture aircraft at a growing pace, soon after Chance Voughts death in 1930, the company moved its operations to East Hartford, Connecticut. In 1939 United Aircraft moved Vought to Stratford, Connecticut where their Sikorsky division was located and renamed the merged divisions Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft, chief Engineer Rex Beisel began in 1938 to develop the XF4U, recognized by its distinctive inverted gull wings. After its first flight in 1940, thousands of F4U Corsairs were produced for the Navy, by the end of its production in 1952, Vought, Goodyear, and Brewster had all produced the Corsair fighters. Vought was reestablished as a division in United Aircraft in 1942. In postwar 1949, Vought moved operations to Dallas, Texas where the former North American Aviation B plant was located, in 1954, the company fully separated from United Aircraft and became the independent Chance Vought Aircraft Inc. Vought began manufacture of its F-8 Crusader for the US Navy in 1957, one of the first Navy fighters capable of supersonic flight and the Navys last all-gun fighter. The A-7A, A-7B, A-7C and A-7E served with the US Navy while the A-7D was purchased by the US Air Force, two-seat models known as the TA-7C/E served with the US Navy while the US Air Force purchased the TA-7K. The A-7 served in limited numbers with three foreign air forces, including Greece, Portugal and Thailand, Vought was bought by James Ling in 1962, forming the new conglomerate Ling-Temco-Vought
