Marines who fight fires on airfields may have a brand new vehicle to battle the blazes by December.

OshKosh Defense expects to deliver 24 of their P-19R vehicles to units at West Coast Marine Corps by the end of the year, with the remaining 140 vehicles expected to arrive across the Corps, both stateside and overseas, by early 2019, said Patrick Williams, the company’s vice president and general manager for Defense Programs.

The vehicle has lighter water tanks, an updated 600-horsepower engine and drive train from its 30-year-old predecessor, increased off road capabilities for rugged terrain and a built-in auxiliary power unit to avoid burning precious fuel while running electronic systems.

Marines at Camp Pendleton and air stations Miramar, California, and Yuma, Arizona, have conducted field tests of four of the vehicles this year, Williams said.

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

Share:
More In Your Marine Corps