M88A1 MRV

The M88A1 MRV as it appears in Steel Beasts Professional

M88A1 MRV: Armored Recovery Vehicle

Statistics

HMG: M2HB
Ammunition Stowage: 100 ready/900 stowed
Default Ammunition: 100/900 .50 cal AP

Grenade Launcher: Grenades
Ammunition Stowage: 2 ready/2 stowed
Default Ammunition: 2/2 Smoke

Armour Protection:
Frontal Turret Armour: N/A
Frontal Hull Armour: Moderate, Steel. Protected vs HMG

Combat Mass: 50.8 tonnes
Length: 8.23m
Width: 3.43m
Height: 3.23m
Engine Power: 750hp Continental AVDS-1790-2DR V12 Diesel
Top Speed: 42kph

General

Originally designed to support the M48/M60 series of tanks, the M88 is a medium, fully tracked, armored vehicle, that performs towing, hoisting, and winching operations in the rescue and recovery of combat vehicles. The modeled M88A1 entered service in 1977 with a new diesel engine/personnel heater/APU, a modified transmission, and a redesigned hydraulic system. Due to the weight disparity between the M88A1 and the M1 series of tanks, the vehicle was upgraded in 1991 to create the M88A2 "Hercules", with additional armor, track skirting, a new engine and transmission, along with additional ballast to raise the vehicle weight to 63.5 tonnes.

This vehicle is crew-able at the Commander (F7) and Driver's (F9) positions, but only partially modeled with no 3D interior views.

Beginning with Steel Beasts version 4.000, all vehicles may tow other vehicles of equal or lesser weight, but the M88A1 and Wisent ARV are unique in that they may tow all vehicles regardless of weight. In addition to towing, this vehicle can also perform expedited repairs to other damaged vehicles. Such repairs can be accomplished by moving close (75m) to the unit which requires aid and then waiting. Repairs will automatically commence within a couple of minutes.

• Note: Although remedied with revision 3.002, it is good practice for players not to occupy the F6, F7, F8 or F9 positions on the towed vehicle when recovering a vehicle during MP/online missions. There is a small chance doing so may result in further damage to, or destruction of, the towed vehicle and damage to the recovery vehicle as well. Additionally, users should avoid trees and other obstacles during towing operations to lessen the chance of damaging or "catapulting" either vehicle. Further, the "owner" of the towing vehicle should always be given ownership of the towed vehicle for the duration of the recovery operation to lessen the chance of one or both vehicles being destroyed. If using a version prior to revision 4.016, although possible, vehicles should not be towed from the front (towing vehicle facing the one to be recovered) to minimize damage and any graphical errors.

Thermal Signature

Hitching Vehicles

For the M88 to "hook up", pull within 10 meters of the disabled vehicle and insure that you select the "Tow vehicle" option from the vehicle icon popup menu (small white hull icon in lower right corner, with a left click).	Selecting the "Tow vehicle" command
Then with the green cross now visible, hold it over the unit you wish to "tow" and left click again (the name will appear if the vehicle is in the range for towing). If you back up to the unit you want to hook up to it's easier to drive away, and note the "tow cable" is not yet visible (maybe in a subsequent software release). The distance from the towed vehicle is about 50ft so keep that in mind when moving around, you'll also notice that your speed is reduced. To minimize the chance of damaging either vehicle, towing speeds should be restricted to "slow".	Selecting the vehicle to be hitched
To unlatch the towed unit, go to the "hull" icon again and select the "unlatch/unhook" option.	Unhitching a towed vehicle