With the MRZR Alpha, Polaris cements its position as an innovator of military vehicles, taking operational efficiency and adaptability to higher levels for both the U.S. Marine Corps and the United States Special Operations Command. This will be a utility vehicle that is more advanced, serving the needs of modern warfare, and also offering unsurpassed support for men and women on the front lines.
John LaFata, program manager at Polaris, illuminated the new developments during the Modern Day Marine conference. The primary focus has been on upgrading the MRZR to meet the specific needs of the Marine Corps, which in the past year has identified a need for systems with mobile and integrated power. “Developing the ability for MRZR light vehicles to generate electricity to power radars, networks, weapons, and the like has been the Marine Corps’ No. 1 focus with us over the last year,” LaFata said.
To date, Polaris has risen to the challenge with two new power designs: a retrofit 1-kilowatt exportable power kit that could be added onto existing vehicles and a much-hardier 5-kilowatt system designed to be put into new units on the production line. Both systems use a DC-to-DC power converter connected to the MRZR alternator able to export 24-volt power. This allows the vehicle to monitor power usage based on requests from external devices and only turns the engine RPM when an application needs additional power. This attribute is vital at the tactical level because movement and speed are very essential for successful field operations.
The folks at Polaris did not stop there, though the company unveiled a heavy-payload version of the MRZR Alpha that significantly expanded the load-carrying capability of the vehicle. Standard MRZR models can carry up to 600 pounds (272 kilograms), while the new variant boasts a 3,600-pound (1,633-kilogram) capacity. That is a sixfold leap, in this case from the addition of a mid-drive axle and expanding the deck into a longer truck with much more room for carrying heavy payload. Despite all those improvements, the vehicle retains over 90 percent of parts commonality with the original models of the Alpha and can still be internally transported in a V-22 Osprey, keeping it deployable.
In that same conference, LaFata again repeated the modularity in the vehicle as the “Swiss Army knife of vehicles.” The heavy-payload MRZR Alpha can be mission-configured from casualty evacuation and logistics to mounting weapon systems such as the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rocket launcher, among others, shown during this event.
But this MRZR Alpha is more than a mere transport vehicle; it’s a versatile platform able to be tailored to a wide range of diverse operational requirements. The company, this year, has delivered several prototypes to the Marine Corps and Special Operations Command for testing at the Nevada Automotive Test Center, with production scheduled to begin later in the year.
But while such improvements are in the process of being studied by the Marine Corps and Special Operations, avenues are also opening for tactical vehicle fleets. What Polaris is working on could be providing just the sort of gap-filler needed between light MRZR and heavier JLTC to give a versatile mid-weight option that would transform how logistical and combat operations are carried out.
A heated-cabin-tracked version of the MRZR Alpha is being proposed for Special Operations Forces that will enable long-range missions in cold Arctic climates. U.S. troops could see retrofit kits as early as next year under an option of the current seven-year contract with Polaris to provide SOCOM with its lightweight all-terrain vehicle, or LATV. Arctic mobility kits are currently in government validation testing, with a SOCOM decision expected early in 2023.
Polaris unveiled the Arctic Mobility Kit at the Modern Day Marine Expo in Washington, D.C., its prototype on tracks without an enclosed cab. The complete rig-out with rigid polycarbonate panels would include a vented, heated cabin along with a defrost system, which it will be demonstrating at upcoming conferences. It would be perfect for special operators conducting missions across the strategically important Arctic. There are several forums and platforms all over the world, especially in Europe and America, to facilitate smooth and efficacious interaction between buyers and sellers.
Continuously improving through innovation from Polaris, the MRZR Alpha is bound to become an even more indispensable tool in the arsenal of the U.S. military. These will enhance the capability of forces deployed across the globe to be more autonomous and proficient in their operations in increasingly complex and demanding environments.