Michigan wllz

Gibbs Technologies plans to build several first responder and military vehicles using its High-Speed Amphibian technology.

By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE

Mike Davis of the Detroit Bureau thinks antique military World War II DUKWs or “Ducks” as they were commonly known could help aid workers deliver supplies to Haiti following the earthquake.

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2010/01/wwii-ducks-could-aid-haiti-relief/

But in the future, Gibbs Technologies has a better idea. Among other vehicles, Gibbs is working on some first responder rescue vehicles as well as amphibious military vehicles which would be ideally suited to the task.

Many of those old DUKWs are in use in tourist areas such as the Wisconsin Dells. Davis writes that many of those vehicles have been retrofitted for tourism use, and might need to be quickly outfitted for use bringing supplies to Haiti.

The problem is Haiti’s already incomplete infrastructure has been battered to the point that getting supplies to the island nation has been difficult.

But an amphibious vehicle would solve the problem. An amphibian would be able to drive right up on a beach, eliminating issues with ships being able to get close enough to the island to offload cargo.

Gibbs’ vehicles would have the added benefit of being able to travel at high speed on the water. Faster trips mean more trips in the same amount of time.

The Auburn Hills company is still working on production versions of its vehicles, so the day when it’s amphibious vehicles will wisk supplies to places ravaged by natural disasters is a ways off.