Posted on 05/06/2005 12:17:38 AM PDT by kingattax
Washington, DC, May. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. military needs a new class of tactical vehicles specifically designed to withstand large roadside and car bombs, military officials told Congress Thursday.
As the insurgency has matured in Iraq, so has its ability to piece together extremely powerful bombs that no amount of additional armor plating can stop without overtaxing the standard chassis, officials told the House Armed Services Committee. Humvees have been loaded with as much armor as they can carry.
"We are at the 98-percent point. We can't put any more armor on these things," said Marine Brig. Gen. William Catto, director of Marine Corps Systems Command, in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee. "My opinion is we are going to have to design a new class of vehicle from the wheels up."
About 70 percent of the injuries and deaths to U.S. military personnel in Iraq are the result of improvised explosive devices, according to Lt. Gen. James Conway, the director of operations.
But just adding armor to vehicles and troops can actually hinder them on their mission.
"Eventually you get to the point where the lack of observation (from too much armor) has the opposite effect," said Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Troops on the road find more than half of IEDs before they explode, primarily though keeping sharp watch and using high-powered sniper scopes to check suspicious bundles.
The Army has begun building a new Humvee -- the 1151 model -- to find the balance between added armor and performance. That tactical vehicle will build armor into the chassis and base plate, leaving off the armored doors and some steel plating. The doors can be applied when the vehicle moves into a dangerous deployment, like Baghdad.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
As far as military procurement is concerned, we just GOT the darn things...and now they have to be replaced????
And with what??? Better yet, how much is THIS gonna cost us?
Don't get me wrong...I want our troops to get the best possible equipment to do the job. Even so, isn't there SOME way we can save some money?
Kill more enemy combatants.
And by any and all means necessary. If it takes carpet bombing, artillry bombardment, sieges, nukes, MOABs, anything that kills more combatents and saves soldier's lives then by all means do it. Screw what the world thinks of us. Civilians will just have to get out of the way.
Okay...I can agree to that....
The army is wasting time, money, and lives trying to make a glorified Jeep into a fighting vehicle.
Its nothing but a staff car people, it wasn't designed to fight. Its built on obsolete GM running gear and light construction.
This is what Stryker was made for. Stop sending Hummers and start making Strykers in mass.
The HMMWV design dates back to the late 70s and entered production in the 80s. It's nowhere near state of the art. For example, the 6.5L turbodiesel in them is considerably less powerful than the versions available in civilian 2500/3500-class trucks. It was designed as a larger, more stable Jeep that could be used for more roles; medium-to-heavy combat vehicle was not one of them. Uparmoring the HMMWV was just a band-aid; ACAVs, Bradleys, and Strykers are what this mission really calls for.
The Hummer was never meant to be a tank.
Stryker, LAV and new MP Armored Security Vehicle are performing well.
Strykers are OK, but they are large which will spoil the vehicle when only few attendants are operating the vehicle. Stryker is rather an armored taxi, transportation for troops. On the other hand, ASV-150 Commandos are smaller having 3 or 4 attendants designed for security missions. Meanwhile, these Commandos are sometimes called the mini-Strykers.
You seem to understand what is needed for the military. :)
And with what???
The Humvee is a replacement for the little Jeep. A vehicle that was used for transportation, not as a tank. Today the Humvee is used as an armored vehicle.
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