Robins works to get new lean, mean fire trucks for Air Force Published July 29, 2011 By Wayne Crenshaw 78 ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Air Force bases later this year will begin using a new type of smaller, "more lethal" fire truck - and it came about with the close involvement of Robins personnel. Program management of all Air Force fire trucks is done through the Aerospace Sustainment Directorate's Support Equipment and Vehicles Division. For the past two and a half years, program office personnel have worked with Defense Logistics Agency contracting officers to ink a contract for the new trucks, called Rapid Intervention Vehicles. Robins will get one of the first trucks in October or November, with 203 eventually to be produced and delivered to bases around the world. The Robins truck will be stationed on the flightline. The trucks will cost about $160,000 each, and employ advanced technology that will enable the same firefighting capability as a full-size fire truck costing $750,000. The trucks are designed for the specific purpose of being the first on the scene if an aircraft goes down. "You can get in really quick, and get into places where we could never take a larger fire truck," said Vinnie DuPree, program manager for fire trucks. The trucks are on a Ford F-550 chassis and spray water with ultra-high-pressure technology. Matthew Meredith, fire truck engineer, said the Air Force is the first to use the technology on a fire truck. It has been extensively tested and found to be effective, he said. It sprays water from the truck's 400- gallon tank at 1,300 pounds per square inch. "It produces a smaller water droplet, allowing us to use less water to more effect," Meredith said. "It is three and a half times as effective as a normal spray." The truck also has a 40-gallon foam tank. The total cost of the acquisition is estimated at $33 million. Pierce Manufacturing of Bradenton, Fla., has a contract to produce the first 90 trucks. A contract for the remaining 113 trucks is expected to be awarded within the next two months. In comparison to the cost of the full-size truck, the contract is expected to save the Air Force more than $100 million.