There is hardly anything in that truck in the link, hardly a combat load. That truck has been downloaded since it's on the FOB and they don't want their stuff ganked and or they don't go out very often. You need a number of things to make an effective and realistic load out for an operational M-ATV. [/quote]
Hardly anything???? Where would you sit if you crammed any more stuff in there???
Am I correct in thinking that those seats are mounted purely via straps? I can't see any mechanical link between the truck and the seats??
Nige[/quote]
Welcome to the second biggest complaint users have of the M-ATV. To illustrate what we would take on missions, check out the pictures below. This is a MaxxPro of course, so we could fit more, but this isn't even that big a load.
The largest load we ever carried was in my RG-31. I had 1,500 rounds of .50 and almost 6,000 rounds of 7.62, 2 AT-4's, and a Javelin and CLU all inside the truck. Then add in a few thousand rounds of linked 5.56 for the SAW's and a thousand or so 5.56 in pre loaded M4 mags and extra 40mm 203 ammo and frags smoke and associated bang for the dismounts. That's just ammo of course, then you have extra fuel, water, food, the coffee maker, speakers for the iPod and an assault pack for each crew member and dismount, and that's just ammo and gear, now you still need to fit 5-6 people in it and it fills up quick.
When looking at these pictures, this was after our final mission when we were turning over our trucks to our replacements, so we were a bit light on some things. Also keep in mind that a Cougar, MaxxPro, and RG series all have external stowage compartments in which a lot of that stuff gets stored. M-ATV's don't have any stowage compartments, just the bed.
As for the seats, and this applies to MaxxPro's as well, they are designed to compress during a blast so as to absorb the energy that otherwise gets put right into the passengers body breaking their back/legs/neck etc... They are suspended through a series of ropes and pulleys as can be seen on the walk around posted by Chris Green on this site that I linked to above. Rob Skipper's CD is excellent for interior shots of the M-ATV. I don't have any as my command would not allow us to ride in M-ATV's.