REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army and Navy have teamed to develop an emergency exit lighting system for Marine Corps assault amphibious vehicles (AAV).
The system is being produced by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center's Prototype Integration Facility (PIF) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center in response to an urgent operational need.
The new emergency egress lighting system for use when the vehicle is submerged or turned over in the water is a modified version of that used on UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
"We're taking the commercial off-the-shelf Black Hawk equipment and modifying to meet the unique AAV requirement," said Brad Easterwood, PIF project lead engineer.
A total of 13 vehicles have been so far fitted with the new system for testing during a Marine deployment.
The U.S. Army's Tank and Automotive Command is interested also in the emergency egress lighting system for use on Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, Easterwood said.
