Posted on 10/26/2005 9:06:51 AM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4
Although the M1114, armored, version of the hummer gets a lot of publicity because of its popularity among troops in Iraq, the 5.5 ton vehicle has been around for some ten years. Originally intended for peacekeeping operations, it was successfully used in the Balkans during the 1990s. The M1114 was based on a earlier version, that had served in the 1991 campaign in Kuwait. The M1114 is basically an armored car, with a crew of four and a payload of one ton (plus two tons that can be towed.) A 190 horsepower engine gives it a top speed of 80 kilometers an hour and a max range (on one tank, on roads) of 480 kilometers. All the armored protection (against 7.62mm machine-guns and rifles, bombs, landmines and nearby bursting shells of up to 155mm) has more than doubled the cost of the M1114 ($140,000 compared to $65,000 for an unarmored model.) Next year, the 4th Infantry Division is going to Iraq with 900 new M1114s, all equipped with new communications gear (the FBCB2 system) that enables them to talk to computers and UAVs, as well as the usual voice comm. Troops in Iraq have, since 2003, been using “Blue Force Tracker,” which is sort of “FBCB2 Lite.” To use the full FBCB2 system requires some training, which is why FBCB2 is not just shipped to Iraq, but installed in vehicles of units headed for Iraq, so all the training can be done in the United States.
Out of about 1,500 hummers produced a month, 700 are M1114 types (and some variants). This is up from 550 a month last month, and will increase to 1,100 a month by next year. Overall hummer production may go as high as 3,000 a month, to replace all the vehicles that are worn out by a year of combat operations in Iraq or Afghanistan (and the extra strain of carrying bolt-on armor, or clambering over the mountains in Afghanistan.) Such wear and tear in a combat zone, even if no combat damage is involved, is normal. The troops ride the vehicles hard in these situations, and wear them out a lot faster than they would during peacetime operations.
Had a guy driving it, thought he had to be gay for sure.
The "Baby Hummer" is definately a chick ride.
I would expect gays to like "hummers"
Iz it doz?
Oh... that's not what y'all meant by armored hummers. Where was my mind?
....all the vehicles that are worn out by a year.....
Yep, definately a GM product!
Wait till the 1151 and 1152 series hits the streets, much better than the 1114s.
Some military procurement officer can check me out on this--but the Hummer was designed to replace the venerable Jeep as an all-purpose unarmored utility vehicle, not as an armored fighting platform.
Utility--you know--run the troops and Generals around behind the lines, go for supplies. Refitting armor onto it over-strains the design capacity of its parts so they break down more often.
The armored vehicle for fighting infantry battles is the Bradley and the new Stryker.
Yep, you got it.
they should just let troops contact Monster Garage and tell them how they want stuff made. then take the prototype to the gubmint and have GM,FOMOCO or whoever bid on who get to make it.
Congress being what it is, this would sail through in about 30 years.
Yes, but what is "behind the lines" in Iraq? I am sure that in a more conventional theatre of combat, the unarmored hummer does the job, but in a theatre such as Iraq, you need something lighter and more mobile than the Bradley (wheeled). Now, I wonder why the wonder machine (read Stryker) isn't the vehicle of choice. That is the real question.
I would expect guys to like "hummers." And I would expect gays to like giving "hummers."
Since there is no front line, the Hummers are being armored, but they aren't designed for the extra load, either with adequate transmissions, suspensions or engines.
However, we are making lemonade out of lemons with Yankee ingenuity.
I believe the very first Strykers have gone to Iraq, bypassing a lot of the ususal mock field testing.
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