Fire Engines Photos

Great looking machines. Perhaps in the future more Strikers will come to Europe.
By the way, I like this livery.

Added by Marcel Sloover on 19 June 2013.

Fantastic looking Crash trucks! I think the white part of front monitor spoils it!! I guess it is to match UK standards. Look forward to seeing all 5 of them in a line!

Added by John Mc Ateer on 20 June 2013.

Nice catch Andy, they have been kept out of sight until now because, i believe the new livery was supposed to be a secret until today.

Added by Bristol Bob on 20 June 2013.

This old chestnut about livery does the rounds Bob. Whether passengers get frightened by red machines was always being discussed. It is a smart scheme though.
A pity they chose an American design, a reflection of our own homegrown offerings?

Added by John Stott on 20 June 2013.

Keeping the new livery a secret didn't go well, I saw one of these one a low loader on the M62 (presumably from Angloco?) 3 weeks ago. Nice looking machines with a very European appearance compared to earlier Oshkosh designs.

Added by Mick Logan on 20 June 2013.

Hi John, it does make you wonder why a certain company not too far from Birmingham did not get the order for these.

Added by Bristol Bob on 20 June 2013.

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I think it comes down to price at the end of the day! Not fire fighters making the call it the accou at department!! It's whoever comes In cheapest! Oshkosh obviously want to make a good impact within Europe as a rival company as taken a major share of appliance building so you would think they want to come in cheaper!

Added by John Mc Ateer on 20 June 2013.

Well time will tell whether these will perform to expectations. Certainly the main contract winners ( in previous years ) for airport machines have been a very good buy.
Funny but anyone else see the resemblance?

Added by John Stott on 21 June 2013.

Bristol Bob, like Andy says Oshkosh was the only company to be able to actually meet all of Birmingham Airport's needs and time frame for delivery. The only other manufacturer that could have met the order was Rosenbauer but obviously in the end Oshkosh got the order.

Added by Michael Penny on 21 June 2013.

Oshkosh is not only a long-established major manufacurer of airfield crash trucks, but other off-road special-purpose military and civilian heavy-duty vehicles too.

I would suggest that for this reason they have economies of scale production which are far more than Rosenbauer could ever aspire to, plus the advantage of a cost base measured in US dollars instead of euros.

THe idea that Oshkosh may be a "bargain brand" is not really tenable - they have an outstanding reputation here in the US and have been providing excellent products to airport fire services, the military and the oil industry for decades.

Added by Rob Johnson on 21 June 2013.

Very nice looking machines. Andy, do you have any stats on these. Because I've looked hard at this photo, and yet I still can't tell if the one on the right is a lot bigger than the one on the left, or whether it's just trick of perspective. Or whether I'm wearing someone else's specs! Please help!

Added by Yelp Bullhorn on 23 June 2013.

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Interesting that the current fleet of Barracudas are advertised for sale already at Terberg DTS (formally FVS) at Gloucester.

Added by Adam Griffiths on 24 June 2013.

Pity Oshkosh ran out of yellow paint! Just about everything else they have built recently is yellow - and there is a very good reason for that.

Added by Rob Johnson on 24 June 2013.

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Andy - thanks for spelling out the reason. Behind this Federal requirement is the thinking that emergency vehicles on any runway should be as easily identifiable as possible under all conditions and in any weather. The insistence on yellow is based on a lot of research, not least at US military airfields.

Added by Rob Johnson on 25 June 2013.

These were imported by Terberg DTS, They are now the main dealers for Oshkosh in the UK & Europe

Added by Simon Gunning on 26 June 2013.

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I have read on the online chatrooms that Luton is also to receive an Oshkosh. Anyone else heard that rumour?

Added by John Mc Ateer on 26 June 2013.

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Let's not get out of bed about yellow and why Oshkosh, why not compliment Birmingham on two very nice machines instead. Colour means very little

Added by Glenn Ramsden on 27 June 2013.

Considering the fact they've got one Panther already, I highly doubt they will buy Oshkosh.

Added by Michael Penny on 27 June 2013.

If I was flying into Birmingham with an emergency landing in fog or heavy rain, I should like to know where the Strikers were!

And so back to bed.....

Added by Rob Johnson on 27 June 2013.

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these are not the first to be deliverd to the uk. RAF Mildenhall had two strikers back in 2008. Perhaps the first uk non miltray customer of strikers but not the first in the uk

Added by Graham on 10 July 2013.

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