Oshkosh Truck Subsidiary, Pierce Manufacturing, Introduces Go-Anywhere Hawk Extreme for Wildland Fire Fighting

    OSHKOSH, Wis.--April 11, 2002--Pierce Manufacturing Inc., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corporation , has introduced a new wildland firefighting vehicle that combines the best of Pierce's fire fighting capabilities mounted on the extremely mobile Oshkosh(R)Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) chassis.
    Called the Hawk Extreme(TM), it is capable of supplying 2,500 gallons of water and potent fire fighting capability to locations that, up to now, were virtually impossible for fire trucks to reach. The wildland fire truck was unveiled at the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., April 11, and after the conference it will set off on a cross-country tour designed to showcase its capabilities.
    "The Hawk Extreme combines the extreme off-road mobility of Oshkosh Truck's proven defense truck technology with Pierce's advanced fire fighting engineering to create the ultimate wildland firefighting vehicle," said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh chairman, president and chief executive officer.
    "The fire fighting capabilities are all state-of-the-art, but the challenge in the past was getting this huge amount of water and fire suppression technology to the scene of these remote wildland fires," explained Bohn. "With the Hawk Extreme, we've answered that challenge."
    The Oshkosh MTVR chassis, on which the Hawk Extreme is built, is the most mobile, high-performance medium-payload truck in the world. The MTVR can run with any ground-based military vehicle in the field, even keeping pace with tanks. It set a record for reliability during military testing, achieving more than five times the reliability requirements. In fact, the MTVR tested better than any other defense tactical vehicle with a largely off-road mission profile. The MTVR can haul 15 tons over the highway and more than 7 tons off-road. As the Hawk Extreme, it can ford a stream four feet deep, travel 336 miles at a maximum speed of 65 mph and climb a 40-percent grade.
    The Hawk Extreme incorporates Oshkosh's TAK-4(TM) independent suspension, a central tire inflation system (CTIS), anti-lock brake system (ABS) with automatic traction control, and Command Zone(TM) advanced electronics. This chassis is available to the fire service exclusively through Pierce.
    Pierce also builds the Hawk USFS Model 62 for the U.S. Forest Service, the Hawk BLM Model 14/15 for the Federal Bureau of Land Management, the Hawk Model 25 for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as well as the original Hawk Wildland, which is in use by municipal fire departments all over the country. Pierce Manufacturing and Oshkosh Truck are also partnered on the 8x8 Tactical Fire Fighting Truck (TFFT) for the U.S. military.

    Oshkosh Truck Corporation is a leading manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for the fire and emergency, defense, concrete placement, and refuse hauling markets. Oshkosh Truck is a Fortune 1000 company with products marketed under the Oshkosh, Pierce, McNeilus, Medtec, Geesink and Norba brand names. The company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis., and had annual sales of $1.45 billion in fiscal 2001.