Alcoa Defense has created a welded aluminum spaceframe for the U.S. Army's Fuel-Efficient Ground Vehicle Demonstrator （FED） that's claimed to reduce weight by up to ten percent and slash fuel consumption by six percent over comparably sized, steel-framed vehicles that see combat use. Of course, a lightweight military vehicle would be all but useless if it failed to offer protection to its occupants. To that end, Alcoa has supplied the FED's aluminum structure with integral underbody armor and an interchangeable blast shield. Both the underbody armor kit and the blast shield are constructed from Alcoa's proprietary 2040 aluminum. This unique material is a high-strength alloy that resists fracturing under extreme conditions.
In an effort to reduce weight and increase payload, the FED was fitted with forged aluminum wheels. Though commonly found on high-end sports cars, the properties of forged aluminum wheels （i.e. low weight and high strength） allow the FED to tackle rough terrain without fear of wheel failures and help reduce rotational mass. This, in turn, increases a vehicle's fuel efficiency. Simple, right?
The FED project was launched by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center （TARDEC） back in 2008. The project focuses on developing a vehicle that operates efficiently that also maintains an certain level of performance, payload capacity and protection for soldiers. Here's an interesting fact: if the U.S. Army, which operates the world's largest fleet of ground-based vehicles, improves its overall fuel efficiency by merely one percent, 6,000 fewer soldiers will be tasked with the risky job of driving targeted fuel convoys in combat regions. Imagine that.
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