M10 Booker Combat Vehicle (pictured) will be put through its paces at Fort Liberty in boreal summer 2024. (US Army photo by Bernardo Fuller)

One company in the 82nd Airborne Division will be the first unit to perform operational testing on the new M10 Booker combat vehicle in boreal summer 2024 and will then become the first unit equipped if the testing is successful, army leaders announced on 18 April.

Testing at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, will focus on making sure the platform is baseline operational, Major General Glenn Dean, programme executive officer for Ground Combat Systems, told reporters on the sidelines of an army live-fire and commemoration event. Training for soldiers will focus on logistics and new maintenance after the unit receives the vehicles in July, Captain Rachel Ledbetter, company commander of the M10 Booker test detachment, 82nd Airborne Division, told Janes on 18 April.

While the Abrams M1A2 main battle tank (MBT) and M10 Booker share many commonalities, such as the Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) and machine guns, the logistics tail is different. This means that the test detachment, which come from armoured backgrounds, will have to practice, Capt Ledbetter said.

Flatbed version of 10×10 Piranha HMC designed for example to carry large weapon system modules. (GDELS)

General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) presented its 10×10 Piranha Heavy Mission Carrier (HMC) in a press release on 15 April.

The new Piranha version has a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of up to 40 tonnes and can carry a 17 tonne payload. It features a 10×10 all-wheel-drive-power-driveline and a multi-link suspension system with 1st/2nd and 4th/5th axle steering, which according to GDELS enables minimum axle loads to comply with European road regulations, cross-country mobility, and trench crossing capabilities with a reduced turning radius of less than 18 m.

GDELS is offering its new 10×10 Piranha HMC variant for missions including direct and indirect fires, air defence, and tactical bridging. (GDELS)

General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) presented its 10×10 Piranha Heavy Mission Carrier (HMC) in a press release on 15 April.

The new Piranha version has a gross vehicle weight of up to 40 tonnes and can carry a 17 tonne payload. It features a 10×10 all-wheel-drive-power-driveline and a multi-link suspension system with 1st/2nd and 4th/5th axle steering, which according to GDELS enables minimum axle loads to comply with European road regulations, cross-country mobility, and trench crossing capabilities with a reduced turning radius of less than 18 m.

Thomas Kauffmann, GDELS vice-president for Global Sales and Services, said, “The Piranha HMC is a direct response to our worldwide customer base's evolving payload and space requirements for versatile and multi-purpose missions including direct and indirect fires, air defence, and tactical bridging capabilities.”

For more information on the Piranha, please seePiranha; Piranha 2; Piranha 3; Piranha 4; Piranha 5 .