looks great (though kits like that are not for me:P )

funny guy

funny guy[/quote] Lol, he has a point I still will go for this one as well I believe.

Can this vehicle be used for E.O.D.

The short answer is yes it can. It just needs a mine/ pressure plate roller in front. Not as common as RG 31 and 33 for that mission, but it can be. It wouldnt typically be THE vehicle but its possible. I know of units who were trying to find a way to attach the TALON robot directly to the stairs of the rear ramp so they could interrogate things with it. It just leaves an awefully big open spot in the vehicle while it is deploying.

In short, talking with EOD people, the Maxxpro wasn't a vehicle that was best suited for the purpose. The bottom of the floor is so high up off the ground it would be very hard to get bots and gear out effectively. Like Brian said, it can be used for this purpose, but it wasn't designed for it.

Your on point Sean. They are more security vehicles, and people movers. When I was over, our unit was trying to put together a route clearance package and we had a mish mash of vehicles to use. I would GUESS that EOD would be a similar package.... Two Huskies, two or three RG-31s with Eye in the Skies, a Buffalo, and maybe an RG-33 or Cayman for the actual EO equipment. This was in 2009-10, so M-ATVs werent really an option yet. Our unit like I said wanted to retrofit the rear ramp of a Maxx Pro with a slot that the TALON would fit into, but haviing to open the ramp to put the robot down and having it LEFT open while it was deployed was just bad idea.

I have talked with some EOD friends, and Brian I think you are confusing the role of EOD with an RCP. This might just be a difference in roles due to our different AO's. I can only speak for Afghanistan, as that was my AO, never been to Babylon. In Afghanistan, you have an EOD team, typically 2-4 guys in one vehicle, normally it was a JERRV, an RG-31 with interogator arm, or on very rare occasions an M-ATV. M-ATV's are a last resort if none of their other vehicles can go where they need to go. JERRV's were the most common. The team in my AO used their RG-31 more often since the JERRV kept getting blown up. Without going into too much detail, there were no EOD packages, just a security element to protect them and pull security. The SPARK kits and Huskies are all part of that security element and really have nothing to do with EOD. EOD never rolled in Buffalo's, that's what RCP's and 21B's are for. They might work together if they need to though. I can't imagine a MaxxPro being a very good vehicle for EOD, there is no place to put the robots. Cougars, Rg's, etc are far better platforms. Caimans are an Iraq only vehicle, just like M-ATV's are Afghanistan only, so I can't speak to them though I do hear they are like the Cadillac of MRAP's.

After reading up on the JERRV ( I didnt know what it was) ... that is the vehicle I most often saw them riding around on ... you are correct.. I am speaking of the RCPs, and what it looks like when the EOD rolls up into them at a site...