New Type of Refueller Trucks at the Hungarian Defence Forces

Within the framework of the Vehicle Purchase Program (VPP), in order to replace refuelling trucks of Russian origin, at the end of 2005, the HDF purchased the first new type of refueller trucks (ÜTG-10 RÁBA H-25). After thorough testing, standard model vehicles have been put into operation and the range of models has also been expanded: since 2007 with the ÜTG-18 MAN HX.32.440 model, and since 2009 with the MAN TGA 33.480 ÜTSZFP-35 model.

So far, thirty-three modern refueller trucks have been put into service within the Hungarian Defence Forces. The “devices" – complying with one of the main principles of VPP – undergo continuous technical improvements in order to meet the expectations set by the operator, and the demands of advanced technology. Thus, the devices manufactured from 2008 have been subject to several functional changes. The RÁBA H25-type basis vehicle has been improved with a higher performance (324 kW) and lower exhaust emission (Euro 4) engine, and has been fitted with a twelve-speed automatic transmission. The more modern drive train is capable of providing greater manoeuvrability meeting military requirements. Experimentally, the attachment has been delivered aesthetically redesigned, resulting in a fully ordinary exterior, off-road platform vehicle, while retaining the fundamental features indispensable to refuelling activities. The greatest development was the provision of the new vehicle with an intelligent fuel-distribution control system, operating as the “brain" of the new equipment. This control system is the PhoenixEM installation, operating with the GMFS-type software, by means of which fuel logistics planning is made available. The same system is used at the fuel installations at the bases of HDF.

Thanks to the PhoenixEM fuel-distribution control system, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III type aircrafts belonging to NAMA (NATO Airlift Management Agency) and HAW (Heavy Airlift Wing) deployed in Pápa – as well as their fuel supply systems – provide “intelligent" fuel dispensing technology in conformity with today’s standards.

The new fuel-distribution control system creates a basis for rapidly deployable and easily adaptable solutions, regardless of the type of storage, and also provides an opportunity for constant adjustment to user needs based on experience. According to the state-of-the art standards, it ensures the aforementioned fuel-dispensing technology: procurement, refuelling, accumulation of reserves (virtual container), automatic resupply and logistics planning.
The implementation, in practice, offers secure communication with transmission of classified information (SSL) within a distance of 5 meters. The system has already been applied by European non-military users for several years.
The aim is to meet military-specific requirements, to promote international cooperation; the latter is made possible by the multilingual feature of the system.
Today’s technological advancement is capable of safely and reliably recording, storing, checking and logistics planning refuelling activities of fifty million users over a twenty-year period per installation.
Furthermore, the GMFS software also allows for operation of units in a network, where one person is sufficient to easily perform the control and supervision of the entire system in matter of a few minutes.
In the light of the above, the Rába Vehicle Ltd., as a sub contractor of the defence industry, might reach out to and appear on new markets because of its modern three-axes off-road fuel dispensing military vehicles.