Today in WW II: 4 Jul 1942 German bombers and submarines sink 24 ships of Convoy PQ 17 to the Soviet Union after the convoy spread out in the Arctic Ocean to evade the German battleship Tirpitz.  More ↓
4 Jul 1942 US Eighth Air Force flies its first mission in Europe using six borrowed British planes; only three aircraft returned.
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USAF All-Terrain Fork Lift (ATFL)

The Caterpillar All-Terrain Fork Lift (ATFL or 10K ATFL) has been procured by the US Air Force (approximately one thousand units) as well as the US Army and USSOCOM. The 10K ATFL is based on the Caterpillar 928Hz wheel loader platform with modifications to meet military specifications and requirements. To enable quick loading and unloading of ISO containers, the 10K ATFL has pallet fork trays with rollers that match up with the 463L pallet system on the C-130 Hercules. The ATFL can remove its own cab, stack and counterweights, reducing its height to 102 inches, making it internally transportable in a C-130. The ATFL can roll off a C-130 and go to work right away off-loading pallets. The Caterpillar 10K ATFL has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, along with other US bases all over the world.

The 10K ATFL has a capacity of 10,000 pounds and can reach a height of 96 inches fully loaded. A 12,000-pound variant of the ATFL is also available from Caterpillar. It has an air compressor (optional) and a 24v NATO receptical for starting from external power. The engine is a Cat C6.6 rated at 149hp@2300rpm mated to a transmission with 4 forward and 3 reverse gears.

Find additional photos and hi-res versions of the All-Terrain Fork Lift (ATFL) at the Olive-Drab Military Mashup.

10K All-Terrain Fork Lift (ATFL) Photo Gallery

SSGT Russell Larsen operates a Caterpillar 10K All-Terrain Forklift to load a heart perfusion machine onto an awaiting truck while Senior Airman Lydia Newman provides guidance at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, 16 June 2012
SSGT Russell Larsen operates a Caterpillar 10K All-Terrain Forklift to load a heart perfusion machine onto an awaiting truck while Senior Airman Lydia Newman provides guidance at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, 16 June 2012.

Members from the 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management flight remove the operator's cab from a CAT 10K All Terrain Forklift (ATFL) in preparation for an air shipment to assist the earthquake and tsunami recovery efforts, Yokota Air Base, Japan, 16 March 2011
Members from the 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management flight remove the operator's cab from a CAT 10K All Terrain Forklift (ATFL) in preparation for an air shipment to assist the earthquake and tsunami recovery efforts, Yokota Air Base, Japan, 16 March 2011.