Personnel Transport in the Era of COVID-19
The current conditions resulting from COVID-19 require transportation that avoids high occupancy vehicles such as shuttles and personnel carriers in order to minimize the risk of exposure to contagions. Bicycles designed for military use offer open-air, solo travel for field and intra-base transportation.
ChargeLock Equipped Light Electric Vehicles
Electric assist bikes vastly increase the distance that can be covered with minimal physical effort. The M-E1 electric bike can be paired with patent-pending ChargeLock stations to lock and charge vehicles with a single user-friendly cable. The technology vastly lowers operational costs and makes stations compatible with any light electric vehicle (LEV) type.
The Paratrooper
A rugged mountain bike that folds simply without the use of tools, by turning one lever. In less than 30 seconds it folds to a 3′ x 3′ pack that can be dropped from a plane, strapped to the side of an LAV, or thrown in the back of a trunk.
Undetectable
The Paratrooper® is a full-size mountain bike that can traverse terrain silently at high speeds with no thermal or acoustic radar signature – key components when trying to avoid the enemy.
The F.I.T. (Folding Integrated Technology) system was developed to allow a full-size, high-performance mountain bike to fold in half and fit through the cargo door of a military aircraft with an airborne ranger. When the soldier hits the ground, he or she has a tactical mountain bike to use as transportation, thereby bridging the gap between walking and deploying heavy military vehicles. This not only aids in transportation but also helps facilitate battlefield reporting.
Military Heritage
Since the 1980s, Montague has provided full-size folding bicycles to various divisions of the military.
In 1997, under a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Montague partnered with the US Marines to develop the Tactical Electric No Signature (TENS) Mountain Bike. For this project, Montague developed a new folding frame design called the X-Series™, integrating the F.I.T.™ system into the frame design. The non-electric version of the TENS Mountain Bike, named The Paratrooper, became available shortly thereafter.
Civilian Use
It became clear that the folding technology found on bikes developed for the U.S. Military could be used in the civilian world as well, as these bikes began turning up in car trunks, closets, and a host of other places where conventional non-folding bikes could not fit. By popular demand the military bikes made their way into civilian use.
Civilian Use
It became clear that the folding technology found on bikes developed for the U.S. Military could be used in the civilian world as well, as these bikes began turning up in car trunks, closets, and a host of other places where conventional non-folding bikes could not fit. By popular demand the military bikes made their way into civilian use.