Heh, back then, it was novel to see a new RA Humvee CONUS… Most new ones I saw belonged to the TXARNG…
When I deployed to Camp Doha in '98, we pulled new ones there, which was pretty refreshing…
Wow you didn’t see RA Humvees till 93? We had them way back in 86 at Ft Hood with 2AD. I believe that was one of the first units that had them. Over here all the Humvees come with the green interior and the outside is supposed to be sand but after changing parts its nothing to see green hoods and doors on a sand vehicle.
Maybe someday the people in charge will get smart and get rid of these things and field more MRAPs! The Humvees are so overloaded now its pathetic.
It’s a money thing. There are tens of thousands of HMMWVs doing all sorts of tasks stateside and in war. The cost to replace each and every HMMWV with an MRAP (of some make/model) is cost prohibitive, plus the fact that not every HMMWV in the Army inventory needs to be replaced with an MRAP.
There are also versions of the HMMWV that are not available in a flavor of MRAP. An Avenger HMMWV does not have an MRAP variant. Why would a 105mm towed howitzer need its prime mover (a heavy duty HMMWV) need an MRAP to tow it? Examples can go on an on, but as I see you are an MRAP rep, I appreciate your position.
Ouch. I guess I should have said the 1114s and 1151s are way overloaded instead of saying replace all Humvees.
This is getting to be very interesting! Go on, go on please?
Our 1114’s were crazy overloaded and tasked out electrically … but we loved’em. Consider the fact too that the MRAPs are much larger than an 1114 … the bigger you get the less manueverability you have. Where we were, there’s no way we could have covered the ground we did w/ MRAPs.
Firepower, speed, and armorment … you can have 2 of the 3, but not all 3. These arguements will never, ever go away.
When I first saw the humvees I said to myself," Wow! what an ugly vehicle!" My friend said it is the replacement to the aging jeeps. I think it was more than a replacement. It has done much in this modern man’s army. Now,seeing more and more of it, I take back my words then. It does look good. I pay tribute to the Humvees.
I agree that they are trying to do more with the HMMWV than it was originally designed to do. The main reason why it still hasn’t been replaced is that the original replacement design had to be restarted after the war in Iraq introduced us to the IED.
It’s replacement didn’t have a requirement to ensure survivability against command detonated munitions because the threat didn’t exist when the program began. Who knows, in ten years there may be technology to detect and defeat IEDs and land mines and young soldiers in 2020 will wonder why we have oversized vehicles designed to protect against something that is no longer a threat.
As a replacement for the old M151-series Jeep, the HMMWV was a huge success. The battlefield changed and it has what used to be successful into something not quite as successful.
When you have armour and firepower,you don’t need speed!
(unless you want to get in the fight quicker!)
I said a new RA Humvee… [:D] Ours came from the Cav and had seen some better days… Those guys beat hell outta vehicles… Every single one had busted windshields, sheet-metal damage, worn-out tires, ripped seats, etc… They were sound mechanicaly, but boy, they were used… The Texas Guard had new ones, though I dunno what unit in the 49th AD specifically I saw that had them…
Doubt that they’d work for prime movers in 105mm battalions that have an air assault mission… Not to mention that there’s some units that are less than enthused about them due to their lousy off-road handling, stupid interior designs (the gunner has to operate the radios or the RTO has to reach between the gunner’s legs to use 'em, the rifle racks are for M-16s, not M-4s, etc…), there’s no storage for howitzer ammo, they beat hell outta the guys inside off-road so they have to be tightly strapped in (not good if you have to un-azz it in a hurry), the list goes on and on… Although they do what what they’re supposed to do, which is move people in greater safety, they fall short overall for units that spend more than 24 hours outside the wire and move cross-country (like oh, say, Infantry, Cavalry, Engineer, and Artillery units)… Although it appears to some civilian types that every Soldier and Marine has the right to be 100% bullet-proof before he can be asked to engage, it just ain’t practical… For EOD guys, ambulances, MPs, and convoy security and the like, it’s just the ticket, but as a fighting vehicle you live in, it falls short in way too many areas…
Hmm, that’s a thought … but then again, you just pinned yourself down. Now you have no manueverability. No manuever = bad joo-joo. Try again, or quit game? [:D]
Like I said, this arguement has gone on forever.
Here is a idea why not design a armored vehicle that looks like a modern Sdkfz.222 with a 25mm cannon in a turret.
You guys just need to get the bushmaster’s, They’re unstoppable
how about a 40mm Bofors cannon. Hey if it can shred infantry while fired by the spectre just think what it will do to the infantry while on the ground.
Rob, I hope you don’t mind. Would you have a picture of a HMMWV’s dash board including the radio. That would be a big help to me. Thank you in advance.
There was an idea, WAY back when, about putting a 25mm on the HMMWV … I guess you can see where that idea went too.
But, I’ll continue to play the devil’s advocate … adding on firepower to a vehicle does what? … It makes it a bigger target. Therefore, you add on more armor … which decreases speed and manueverability … and so on, and so on …
Its just one big, vicious cycle …
constructor - I’ve got a few pics of interiors I’ll post up. Hopefully, they will be in addition to what Rob might have. But, its late, so I’ll post them in the morning.
I will be waiting for them. Thanks
man does that bring back the memories…mostly doing that damn pmcs on it!! [(-D]