Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Location: DAS BOOT IM DER OSTSEE
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2005 6:47 pm Post subject:
Humvee retirement is imminent!
i was going to bump this to main news, but OMC3's going on, and i wont want to tick off the moderators. Anyway. I'm going to miss it, but if it means less flag-draped coffins in C-130s coming here every month, it is worth it.
(Aug. 24) -- The Pentagon is accelerating its search to replace the Humvee after two years of roadside bomb blasts and suicide attacks in Iraq that have killed hundreds of soldiers in a vehicle not designed for urban combat.
Before the war in Iraq, a successor to the Army's dominant vehicle wasn't due until the middle of the next decade. Now the Army plans to review designs this fall, and working prototypes will be due in June.
There are about 24,000 Humvees in Iraq and Afghanistan. By 2008, the military could start using a new vehicle that would have:
-- More protection for troops. Congressional pressure forced the military to add armor to all older Humvees and buy more models with factory-installed armor. But even Humvees with the latest armor are still vulnerable to the powerful bombs insurgents use.
-- A beefier suspension that can handle the weight of the armor. The extra armor has led to increased maintenance problems for the Humvee, which wasn't designed to handle so much weight. The extra weight also makes the vehicle more prone to rolling over and getting bogged down in sand. That has cost the Humvee much of its legendary off-road capability.
-- Lower fuel consumption, to reduce the need for supply convoys that have been targets of insurgents.
-- Improved onboard power generation to handle the expanding array of electronics that troops take into battle today compared with the simple radios of 30 years ago. Hybrid-electric drivetrains, which are gaining popularity in passenger vehicles and are already being tested in current Humvee prototypes, are being considered to save fuel and generate power.
"We wish we had that vehicle out there today," says Lt. Col. Stuart Rogers, transportation division chief of the Army Combined Arms Support Command.
"Survivability is our primary concern," says Jeff Bradel, project officer at the Office of Naval Research, which is overseeing prototype development for the Marines. Unlike the Humvee, originally designed for tasks behind the lines, the next vehicle will be a fighter from the start, he says.
The original Humvee design worked well in the Persian Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere, says Thomas Donnelly, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a research organization. The Iraq war has forced the vehicle into doing what "it was never contemplated that it would do," including battling bomb-wielding insurgents in today's urban combat.
The armoring of the Humvee to counter the bombs has had limited success. Some shortcomings cannot be fixed without a thorough redesign. For example, even with armor, a Humvee's flat bottom won't deflect bomb blasts as well as new designs with boat-bottom-shaped underbodies.
Roadside bombs are among the leading killers of troops in Iraq. Congressional reports and an analysis by CNN suggest that more than 350 troops killed in Iraq since the war started in March 2003 were inside Humvees. In all, 1,451 troops had been killed in combat in the war in Iraq, as of Tuesday morning.
"If this is the threat of the future, the long-term utility of the Humvee has to be questioned," Gen. William Nyland, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, told a House panel in June. _________________ PPM's Reichstrollfuherer, 236th Trollenparties brigade. QUICK_EDIT
Google, mans best friend, i had a link providing the abilities and upgrades from the old hummvee that it had but i dont know what it is anymore, it looks similar to the humvee at the front, also looks quite durable _________________ "Wheeee Dooogey!" QUICK_EDIT
God the Ultra 3T... The one that looks like a cross of the old Humvee and a van kind of look...Thats much nicer...but looks easier to hit. =/ _________________ ... QUICK_EDIT
NOOOOO
they can't do that bunch of culturebarbarick americans.
I've grown up with HUMVEE's . like the times in the first.
Command & conquer.
I'll miss the sight of HUMVEE's driving through warzones. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
er...
Well, they need the armour because
"But even Humvees with the latest armor are still vulnerable to the powerful bombs insurgents use. "
i can't be bothered to quote it all, just re-read it. _________________ Organised Rules.ini by Judeau QUICK_EDIT
yeah the hummvees armoured but it cant protect itself against shaped charges, this was proved in many cases, mogadeeshu for instance present conflicts in iraq now aswell, this replacement should prove its worth i think, the hummvee looks the shit but when it comes down to it, roadside bombs and rpgs will tear it open. _________________ "Wheeee Dooogey!" QUICK_EDIT
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Humvee retirement is imminent!
