The fact that HUMVEEs are unarmored has been a vulnerability that the Iraqi irregulars have exploited, through their IEDs, the weapon of choice in breaking up patrols.
There have been reports of GIs lining the interior of their HUMVEE with salvaged body armor, and this seems to be somewhat effective, at least in preventing secondary schrapnel from torn pieces of the vehicle itself from further injuring the passengers. It should not be too involved to install a similar feature designed as an integral part of the vehicle during manufacture, on the side walls and beneath the floor boards. Compared to armor plating of similar effectiveness, the weight advantage would more than compensate for the relatively higher cost of the design.
Thousands of retrofit armor kits have been shipped to Iraq for the unarmored Humvees. Over 2700 Armored Humvees have made it to ground in Iraq, and production on NEW ARMORED HUMVEES is hitting 1500 a month. They are being shipped to active duty military daily.
Seems that ALL media is failing to follow up on their research, or maybe they just want to IGNORE the fact that the Military usually has implemented corrections on these "reports", long before the stories are written. Media lying and deceiving us ALL? No surprise here...
LLS