Rove was in Iraq? :-)
The Bushmaster hull will withstand blast from two TM-57 anti-tank mines (equivalent to 19kg of TNT) and has been tested extensively. ADI was slow getting Bushmaster production underway, but now it seems to have found its stride. Even so, the entry of Bushmaster into the contest for a CF APV (backed by Thales Canada) appears to have surprised DND planners but, a greater size aside, the ‘Bushie’ did fit the APV requirement.
Up Armored Humvees do not have V-shaped hulls.
Good for the Aussies!
These vehicles are awsome, of course. At $670k, they ought to be.
But I'll repeat something I said almost two years ago. when the Army went to the new truck system, thousands of 2-1/2 ton and 5-ton trucks that were stuck into depot, mothballed or sold as surplus.
Those trucks all could have been quickly and cheaply modified into armored gun trucks that would have offerred more firepower and protection that any up-armored humvee. You could outfit a dozen or more of them for the cost of one Bushmaster.
They could not be made as thoroughly bomb proof as a Bushmaster, but they could be close, and they could carry the weight of armor capable of defeating small arms and heavy MG fore as well RPG fire.
Probably wasn't enough money in it for the contractors though. When it comes to systems and procurement, our military almost never looks at ways to use or adapt old equipment that is no longer useful for its original mission. Only the newest, latest toys shall be considered.