Humvee turned out to be death trap for U.S. troops

Brinks cars are not made to take artillery shells converted to mines. Perhaps protection level is as far as a 7.62NATO Armor Piercing, but not as high as a .50BMG AP. One thing to look at is how high the floor is. The blast overpressure reduces with the square of the distance from the center of pressure. If the blast in high enough you can roll the vehicle right over.

O'Gara Hess and Eisenhart is a HUMMER armorer. Of course the details are classified, but they do a very professional job.

If your enemy is using shaped charges, it may make sense to use reactive armor, but that stuff is deadly to dismounted infantry if they are close to it when it is triggered. It essentially multiplies the armor thickness by 10.

The right answer: either a purpose built heavy infantry vehicle (give up any thought of amphibious capability) like the german Marder, or use a tank. Tanks routinely take direct artillery hits on the front, and can take a near miss. The tracks are designed to be completely repaired after taking an antitank mine (not one of the splinter filled anti personnel mines).

Either that, or resolve upon taking a casualty every day and a half or so as long as the resistance lasts.

The US advantage in fast moving war is in long distance combat, and in moving faster than the enemy can target us. in peacekeeping operations it is hard to avoid setting a routine, and the second time through a route, it will have a mine, if the enemy is watching.

The FMTV is much higher than the HUMMER, and sandbags on the floor protect better for that reason, but it also is not an armored vehicle.

B

"Would converted brinks trucks for the time being do any good?"

I don't think Brinks trucks have any belly armor. That would make them effectively useless. The armor they do have is, as far as I know, rated only for small-arms fire, so I doubt they would do any good against an RPG, either. Anyone else out there know either way?

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