ARMORED WARFARE: Gun-Vees Appear in Iraq

StrategyPage.com ^ | August 4, 2003 | Adam Geibel

[overtaxed_canadian]

August 4, 2003: August 2, 2003: At least two battalions in the 4th Infantry Division have modified their equipment to help them adjust to urban warfare by mounting .50 caliber M2 heavy machine guns on the back of their Humvees. These vehicles are now nicknamed "Gun-Vees" and resemble the "technicals" used by Somali fighters first encountered by Americans in Mogadishu ten years ago.

These up gunned vehicles are especially useful in battling the Islamic fighters in alleys and other tight urban spaces, where tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles cannot maneuver. The modified vehicle also provide an element of surprise, being far quieter than the tracked M1 Abrams or M2 Bradley's.

[jriemer]

Gun trucks of Viet Nam. The gun-vees bigger older brother.

[Darksheare]

Bored newsies have never seen MP vehicles at Fort Drum that have .50 cals on top.
So to them, it's "new".

[Myrddin]

The hummer that my son used during his duty in Kuwait had a .50 cal onboard. That was part of his vehicle preps before shipping. When he wasn't doing medical transports, he would stand a watch with the hummer + .50 cal.

[Darksheare]

There's a slightly armored version of the humvee that is affectionately called a 'herdshell' humvee.
It has supplementary armor, usually kevlar doors hood, and body panels beefed up with the stuff.
Nice vehicles, usually seen with MP units, but I did see one or two with the 42nd Infantry guys at Fort Drum one year during AT.
Not sure what the actual 'issue number' of such humvee variants is, I was only artillery and we never had anything bigger than a 1097 humvee other thna the deuce and 5 ton.
Though we DID have a Hemmet for about two weeks until someone noticed.

[pierrem15]

7.62 minigun from a Blackhawk or Little Bird mounted on a HumVee would work

Instant Baathist kebab.

[Lost and Confused]

they couldn't put the A-10's 30mm GAU-8/A Gatling gun on there, could they? : /

[wildbill]

I like the power of the .50 to shred walls in an urban alleyway at a distance. Like Ma Bell says, "Reach out and touch someone."

[Poohbah]

We need to bring back the 90MM recoilless rifle. Man-portable, but it has a good punch against all but the heaviest urban construction.

[xp38]

The Rat Patrol returns!!!

[RightWhale]

put the A-10's 30mm GAU-8/A Gatling gun on there

And a second hum-vee right behind to carry the ammo.

[hchutch]

Agreed.

[hchutch]

How about that self-propelled Vulcan (M163, IIRC) for the job? Why did we ever retire those?

[Poohbah]

Why did we ever retire those?

1960s-vintage electronics. Good luck getting spares.

[donozark]

Yes indeed! (to the 90MM recoiless rifle). Would have been of great benefit in Afghanistan. Are you familiar with the ONTOS? A very nasty looking thing the USMC used in VN.

[hchutch]

Damn shame. Those things could really cut apart infantry or attack choppers and planes.

Too bad we couldn't re-wire the things...

[Darksheare]

I seem to remember it's light armor being mentioned as a reason for retiring it as well.

[hemogoblin]

How about one of these on the back of a dump truck?

[jriemer]

Yes indeed! (to the 90MM recoiless rifle). Would have been of great benefit in Afghanistan. Are you familiar with the ONTOS? A very nasty looking thing the USMC used in VN.

The ONTOS did have six 90MM recoiless rifles, they're manually loaded and don't have near the rate of fire that a battery of M2s would put out. When reloading, the crew is pretty well exposed to side and rear fire.

[donozark]

That's the beast! Nasty lookin' thing isn't it? Slow rate of fire, but imagine initial round of fire...

[jriemer]

That's the beast! Nasty lookin' thing isn't it? Slow rate of fire, but imagine initial round of fire...

Just hope your shots are on target. It looks like the whole darn thing has to move for targeting adjustments.