Tanks for the ride: US soldier steals armoured vehicle

Talk about a spectacular joyride: an American soldier commandeered an armored personnel carrier and led police on a chase along a major highway for more than an hour.

In scenes that drew comparisons with the anarchic Grand Theft Auto videogame series, the vehicle tore through streets, ignoring traffic signals -- and the screaming sirens in hot pursuit.

Cops in the eastern state of Virginia were unable to deploy the stingers that might normally be laid out across the roads to burst a stolen car's tyres.

Instead, they raced along behind the sand-coloured all-terrain vehicle, whose caterpillar tracks were carrying it at speeds of up to 40 miles (65 kilometres) per hour.

"This is INSANE!" wrote Twitter-user @ParkerSlay89, posting a video of the chase.

"Someone has hijacked a 'Tank-like' vehicle from Fort Pickett and just drove it by our apartment!"

Kayleigh, a bystander, told local TV network WWBT: "Honestly it kinda reminds me of the Grand Theft Auto games where the tanks drive just in the middle of the city, it's surreal."

The wildly successful Grand Theft Auto series is an open-world video game in which players create mayhem across an urban landscape, stealing vehicles and committing crimes.

Virginia State Police Sargent Keeli Hill told reporters the APC, which was not equipped with any weapons, had been boosted from a Virginia National Guard base and driven along a major road to the state capital, Richmond.

During the pursuit, officers closed exit ramps on the highway, Hill said, adding the soldier eventually stopped the vehicle and surrendered.

High-speed police chases are a regular feature of US news networks, many of which dispatch helicopters to give their audience a bird's-eye view of the action.

Pentagon contracts Kaman for programmable bomb fuzes
Washington (UPI) Jun 4, 2018 - The Defense Department has announced a modification to a U.S. Air Force contract with Kaman Precision Products for programmable bomb and missile fuzes.

The deal, announced Friday, will provide for the "delivery of Lot 14 joint programmable fuze or FMU- 52 and corresponding production, test and engineering support," the Pentagon said.

The modified contract between the Air Force and Kaman, out of Orlando, Fla., is valued at more than $69.3 million under the terms of a firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract and will benefit the countries of Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, South Korea and the Netherlands.

The programmable fuze from Kaman Precision Products is a multi-function, hard and soft targeting fuze system developed for use by the U.S. Navy and Air Force, as well as NATO aircraft, according to a Kaman products fact sheet.

The fuze can be used in a variant of U.S. and NATO munitions, including both guided and unguided bombs.

Work on the contract will occur in Florida and Connecticut and is expected to be complete in June 2020.

The total cumulative value of the contract will be obligated to Kaman Precision Products at time of award from fiscal 2017 procurement funds.

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Army taps AM General for 300 Humvees
Washington (UPI) Jun 1, 2018
The U.S. Army awarded a $44.1 million contract modification to AM General LLC to produce 300 expanded-capacity high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles, commonly known as Humvees. The South Bend, Ind., manufacturer can also deliver optional equipment under the terms of the contract modification, the Defense Department said Thursday. The department expects AM General to finish work by February 2023. Humvees, also known as HMMWVs, have been in use since 1984. The U.S. military commonly ... read more