racing professional; Tom Moore, former vice president of Liberty Operations, Chrysler's advanced engineering center; Walt Wynbelt, former program executive officer with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command, and Dave McLellan, former Corvette chief engineer for General Motors. The ULTRA concept had its vehicle genesis on the US Army TARDEC COMBATT Program, sponsored by the National Automotive Center. This program explored the use of commercial vehicle platforms as a fundamental building block of more rugged military vehicles. Michael Dudzik (GTRI) and David McLellan were principals in the early transition of the COMBATT achievements to the ULTRA platform. ULTRA was able to build upon the COMBATT results and explore revolutionary designs in the integration of armor and chassis systems for increased survivability. Ultra II The Georgia Tech Research Institute continued work on the project, eventually releasing the ULTRA II concept, also designed and tested for the Office of Naval Research. The new crew-protection concept builds on the earlier GTRI research on concepts for light armored vehicles. A blast test conducted with the Ultra II at the Aberdeen Test Center showed that the vehicle could protect its occupants from improvised explosive devices. Features The crew compartment was designed to fit six people: a driver and commander, facing forward, and two pairs behind them facing opposite sides of the vehicle. This design focuses on moving the crew away from external walls to reduce injury from side blasts, allows the blast-resistant seats to be frame-mounted, and reduces the time it takes to exit the vehicle. The crew compartment uses a "space frame" constructed from tubular steel, similar to the construction of off-road vehicles, especially those involved in off-road racing, and an armored steel skin provides structure and blast protection. Additional armor can be modularly bolted to the vehicle and easily reconfigured. Another key focus of the project was the protection provided by a replaceable sacrificial "blast wedge" that is bolted to the bottom of the vehicle. Constructed from welded steel armor, it absorbs and deflects energy from a blast, acting as a crumple zone. See also GTRI Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory Desert Patrol Vehicle Plasan Sand Cat References Concept cars Military trucks Armoured fighting vehicles Proposed weapons of the United States Georgia Tech Research Institute