
The US Air Force has awarded a contract to Oshkosh Airport Products Group for 28 snow removal vehicles.
Under the $12.3m contract, Oshkosh will supply 10 H-Series runway plow and underbody scraper vehicles and 18 H-Series high-speed blower vehicles.
The USAF will deploy these units at its bases in the US, Japan and Korea at the beginning of November 2010 for winter.
The H-Series chassis will include all-wheel drive and ALL STEER electronic all-wheel steering, safety interlocks with an emergency stop feature and Command Zone electronic LCD dash pod.
It will also include a large, sound-insulated cab with two full-size seats to accommodate a supervisor/training officer and a large, panoramic-view windshield with no corner posts.
The plow vehicles will include a 470hp engine and a 50,000lb gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), fitted with a flared front plow, three-function underbody scraper and a hustings hitch.
The high-speed blower vehicles will be equipped with a 335hp chassis engine and a 700hp dedicated blower engine to throw 3,000t of snow per hour a distance of up to 150ft.