Posted on 06/11/2006 4:22:24 PM PDT by Mr. Brightside
Today: June 11, 2006 at 16:17:5 PDT
Armor Causing Humvees to Roll Over
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Thousands of pounds of armor added to military Humvees, intended to protect U.S. troops, have made the vehicles more likely to roll over, killing and injuring soldiers in Iraq, a newspaper reported.
"I believe the up-armoring has caused more deaths than it has saved," said Scott Badenoch, a former Delphi Corp. vehicle dynamics expert told the Dayton Daily News for Sunday editions.
Since the start of the war, Congress and the Army have spent tens of millions of dollars on armor for the Humvee fleet in Iraq, the newspaper reported Sunday.
That armor - much of it installed on the M1114 Humvee built at the Armor Holdings Inc. plant north of Cincinnati - has shielded soldiers from harm.
But serious accidents involving the M1114 have increased as the war has progressed, and the accidents were much more likely to be rollovers than those of other Humvee models, the newspaper reported.
An analysis of the Army's ground accident database, which includes records from March 2003 through November 2005, found that 60 of the 85 soldiers who died in Humvee accidents in Iraq - or 70 percent - were killed when the vehicle rolled, the newspaper reported. Of the 337 injuries, 149 occurred in rollovers.
"The whole thing is a formula for disaster," said Badenoch, who is working with the military to design a lighter-armored vehicle to replace the Humvee.
Army spokesman John Boyce Jr. told The Associated Press on Sunday that the military takes the issue seriously and continues to provide soldiers with added training on the armored Humvee.
The Army also made safety upgrades to the vehicle, including improved seat restraint belts and a fire suppression system for the crew, he said.
There are more than 25,300 armored Humvees in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
When Humvees do roll, the most vulnerable passenger is the gunner, the soldier who operates the weapon mounted in the vehicle's top.
Gunners were killed in at least 27 of the 93 fatal Humvee accidents since 2001, according to the newspaper's analysis.
The law of unintended consequences strikes once again.
I don't see any numbers addressing the issue of people spared because IEDs and snipers failed to kill our troops in these more heavily armoured vehicles. I'd sure like to have seen more stats to back up the original assertion.
If so, I blame the uproar from the Democrats and their media allies for panicking the Pentagon into doing something without adequate testing.
going to be hard to document what didnt happen. Perhaps we could take a look at the stats before and after the armor was available. considering the way the vehicles trickled in I don't think there is an easy way to do this.
His premise seems reasonable though. Take a vehicle design and make it much heavier and raise the center of gravity. What else could we expect to happen?
You may be right.
But remember how hard the dems hit Bush on this issue?
Wouldn't it be interesting to find out that the main Democratic campaign talking point of 2004 was pure BS?
Me thinks this is just another hit piece masquerading as a 'we love the troops' article.
L
You mean along with the main talking points of 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004? Yeah, I guess so. LOL
In truth, I hear you and agree.
Agreed.
Yes,because they are(Largely)designed to replace the"JEEP"!I would like to know how many of our forces were Killed,Wounded,etc.,etc.,whilst riding in JEEPS in WWII,Korea,Vietnam....I don't think there was any outrage expressed at the time that they were"under-armored"!This is just another avenue for THE LEFT!!!!Tanks(and more lightly armored APCs)are"Armored"vehicles.Hummers are meant to be light,all-purpose transports(Jeeps)!!!!!!!!SHEESHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's what happens when you try to use what is essentially a jeep in a role that calls for light armor. It is the wrong tool for the job.
You're Right!Loading up these Hummers with tons of armor-plating REDUCES their survivability because they can no longer Manuever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The IED problem needs to be addressed!Beefing up vehicles(Hummers)doesn't get rid of the IED problem!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know. Those suckers have a really really low center of gravity. Not like the old jeep.
Yes the IED problem does need to be addressed, but in instances where those IEDs are not direct hits, the armour is very important.
Only if"The Added Armor"doesn't make Hummers MORE vulnerable!
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