Mills Tui Stryker Mk 7 Ultra Large Fire Tender


The Mills-Tui Stryker Mk 7 is currently (c.2007) the standard Ultra Large Fire Vehicle (ULFV) used at Australian airports by the Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) Service.

Mills-Tui is a specialised heavy vehicle manufacturer based in Rotorua, New Zealand. The Stryker Mk 7 is a 6x6 all-wheel-drive vehicle, 10.49 m long and has a gross vehicle mass of 32,280 kg. The vehicle is operated by a crew of four: driver, monitor operator and two fire-fighters. It's powered by a V8 Detroit diesel turbocharged engine producing a maximum of 710 hp (530 KW) at 2,300 rpm, 435 hp in economy mode. A separate V6 Detroit diesel producing 400hp (300 KW) drives the vehicle's pumps.

The Stryker Mk 7 carries 10,200 litres of usable water which can be mixed with 1,300 litres of foaming agent.The vehicle's Darley Champion water pump can move 6,800 litres per minute, the roof-mounted, remotely controlled monitor (see photo above) throwing up to 4,760 l/min out to 77 metres. The vehicle is also equipped with an under-body, self-protection system which discharges at 380 l/min.

The vehicle has 60 m of 25 mm hand line which can be used to project water up to 20 m at 150 l/min. A Dry Chemical Powder (DCP) system is also fitted which can discharge a total of 250 kg of DCP through a 30 m hose at 2.5 kg/sec using dry nitrogen as the propellant. Storage compartments also house a wide variety of rescue equipment including breathing apparatus and cutting equipment.

The top two photos on this page show Melbourne Airport's Tenders 2 and 3, photographed during 2006.

 

 

Below: Some of the Mk 7s have been re-painted in the new green-yellow colour scheme introduced in around 2008. Here Tender 15, belonging to the ARFF Training School, is about to depart from the aircraft viewing area on Operations Road at Melbourne/Tullamarine in November 2013. With the School's fire training ground just up the road, this is a common place for the School's tenders to await the beginning of training exercises.

 

Mills Tui Styker

 

(Photos: Top and Middle-Phil Vabre/CAHS collection, Bottom-Gordon Reid)

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