Posted on 08/19/2004 8:41:43 AM PDT by lizol
Here come the Hummers - the Polish Army's new heavyweight fleet
From Poland A.M.
The Polish army will soon receive 217 famous American armor-plated Hummer vehicles, bought using money from a $22 million indefinite loan from the States.
"The first cars will be here by August 23-25 and later deliveries will arrive every month," said Lieutenant-Colonel Krzysztof Kokoszka. The first Hummers will not be ready for use until fall, as they have to be adapted to Polish road conditions first. The vehicles are 4.6 m long, 2 m wide, carry six soldiers and are the U.S. light infantry's primary transport. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 5) D.W.
OK. Just one question: Are our troops in Iraq fully equipped with the armored Hummers? Last I heard, there was a shortage of them in Iraq.
As much ribbing as the Poles get, they are among the finest people.
I've had admiration for them after I heard that they attacked the Nazi tanks and armor with cavalry. They knew they weren't going to win, but sometimes you just have to do the right thing whatever the cost.
Well, I'm curious about what the road conditions are that an off-the-rack Hummer can't handle.
Doesn't look like humvee.
I agree, the Poles are great allies and seem to have been very steadfast through Iraq. I'm not always big on foreign aid but this $22 mil is a good investment to a deserving group.
Funny picture. What does the caption say?
Outstanding! The Poles will use them well, and perhaps the HMMWV will be less of a US emblem for our enemies to target. Sure wish they'd been available when I was in Iraq last year...
The man is always right.
PING
Note to Poland:
1. Put wheels on the roof, the "armour up" package makes these babies roll over faster than a Ford explorer with underinflated tires.
2. Strap on JATO rocket pods. Top speed will now be about 45 miles and hour.....with zero to 45 mph times approaching 25 seconds.
3. Enjoy the ride.
A breakdown of Polish armour at the outbreak of war can be found here: http://derela.republika.pl/form.htm
Most of the equipment was locally made based upon improvements to British designs, but there was also a mix of French and British equpment.
For an in depth look at some of the hardware, see this Freeper Foxhole posting: The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - The 7TP/7-Tonowy Polski Light Tank - June 1st, 2004
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1145464/posts
"The German army was so impressed with this design they incorporated as many 7TP tanks as possible into their service."
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