Posted on 06/12/2006 9:01:28 AM PDT by presidio9
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 old M151 sereies Ford jeeps were so notorious about their rollover characteristics that they were known as the *Roly-Poly* among troops using them along the East German-Czechoslovokian 5KM Zone with West Germany; their *official* nickname of *MUTT*, for M/ilitary U/tility T/actical T/ruck was virtually unknown by the troops, and was likely dreamed up by some Automotive Command press officer. The additional weight and even higher center of gravity of machine gun mounts and the M40A1 106mm recoilless rifle-mounted version made things worse, as did multiple radios in command jeep versions.
Eventually, all the remaining M151/A1/A2/A3 versions remaining in service were supposed to be fitted with a roll-over protection cage, known as a ROPS. Which, of course, raised the center of gravity and made rollovers more likely....
One surprising happy spot: the stretched-wheelbase Front Line Ambulance M718 version was pretty good around corners, even on twisty-turny German roads with ice, slush and mud.
But it was not just the jeep that the Humvee replaced: also the much-beloved M37 Dodge *power wagon* weapons carrier, the M715 4x4 truck and the later Dodge M880 *five quarter ton* 4-wheel drive pickup and Chevy M1009 CUCV Blazer. It looks now like the Hummvees will not enjoy the long and dutiful life span of the old Jeeps at all.
Fire Rumsfeld [/s]
THAT is what I've been saying all along. If an armored car is needed, use an armored car, don't come along and put armor on my SUV.
That's the kind of war this is. Are we for giving the troops what they need? Or making them ride around in hummers because they're cheaper.
I remember those. I drove one when I did weather support for the Big Red One at Ft Riley.
Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten it's "official" designation.
I have one of those Urban Assault RVs.
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