(Bye, bye Hummer) Posted on 04/01/2012 1:06:16 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
The race is on for the Humvee's successor
(Bye, bye Hummer)
Your Mom may still love driving a Humvee to the mall, but the military has different needs for its combat operations these days. Some 20 years after the Humvee first rolled out, the military is now entering the second phase of the project to choose its successor.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program will be reviewing the proposals for a new vehicle, and has a pretty specific list of what it's looking for. Manufacturers getting in the game need to submit prototype designs for a seven to 10-ton truck — something that will provide adequate protection but is lighter than a fully armored vehicle.
The Humvee was designed as a general do-it-all carrier for a frontlines of warfare — much like the old standard Jeep. It was big, but it was light and was engineered to travel on varying terrain. But, as combat changed from battlefields to urban settings all over the globe, a flaw was exposed.
The Humvee had virtually no armor to protect troops inside when on start-stop type missions. When the vehicle needed to hold a location, it was extremely vulnerable.
The military compensated by adding armor and bringing on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) carriers. But this was also an imperfect solution. While the Humvee was nimble and could be dropped into location, these armored vehicles could not.
New combat needs are clear — a vehicle has to be secure enough to protect against explosions and ambush but light and tactical enough to go anywhere and maneuver in tight situations. After 20 years, advances in technology, design and battlefield knowledge are expected to yield a better-suited model.
Two companies are already lining up to take on the challenge.
BAE Systems' prototype resembles a shrunken tank. Clearly more armored than a Humvee, it also has a V-shaped hull to provide greater protection against mines and IEDs.
The entry from Navistar is a modification on its International Saratoga light tactical vehicle, which was launched last October. Outwardly it appears to more closely resemble the Humvee, and Navistar is touting its flexibility and ability to integrate with existing vehicles.
So, the military will have a few different options to choose from as the second stage of its search — known as the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase — kicks off.
Manufacturers will be delivering 22 prototypes — none as wild as DARPA's flying Humvee, so far — for the Army and Marine Corps to put to the test. Three contracts for a new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle will be awarded in June.
No word on whether the Humvee will continue to churn out vehicles for civilians, but we're betting once the new military successor is crowned, someone will want one for carpool duty.
With or without armor.
Oh... well that is cool.
heh
Tell him no, some of the big ones are actually flying buses, others are flying trucks, bombers are flying dump trucks.
That'll show our enemies.
The number one question that needs to be asked is where, and under what circumstances is this new vehicle expected to be used?
The second question is even trickier, and takes some explanation. Who is going to be using this new vehicle?
This is, because it has become too expensive to use our top of the line military for cheesy little bush wars, peacekeeping missions, guard duty and other such nonsense in every little rat hole in the world.
America needs to create the equivalent of an offshore French Foreign Legion, a private company, but led by US officers, to do the piddling stuff for a fraction of the price. Strictly for low intensity, extended and international mission operations, costing tens of millions instead of tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.
All their transport and logistics would be provided by the US military, but these contractors would be the ones sitting in some African pestilence for a dozen years, not our soldiers.
Europe did something like this for over a thousand years, hiring mercenary companies to handle their disputes, with the understanding that they would not abuse the local civilians on either side.
By being offshore, there would be no limitation to who such a company could hire, though most would not be US citizens. And, as private contractors working for a private company, though under US auspices, they would not have to obey nonsense and anti-military directives from Washington. If told to do so, they could just quit. Part of their contract.
For the most part, the Pentagon would be very happy with this arrangement, because it would permit them to keep the US military in good condition for the stuff they need to do, not worn down and degraded by doing piddly stuff.
Wow, Eileen Marable comes across as completely clueless with that statement. Does she understand the difference between a Humvee and a Hummer H1 and a Hummer H2 or H3? It sure doesn't sound like it. The last civilian version of the Hummer H1 came off the assembly lines years ago. The H2 and H3 have nothing in common with the H1 other than the Hummer name, and they certainly have nothing in common with the Humvee.
My number one question is where can I go buy a military surplus Humvee! I suppose the rules will be such that won’t happen. A guy I know has an old WWII surplus Willies that is GREAT for field work in the mud, etc. (Chilly though with no windows!)
Now , they're looking for something that weighs 7-10 tons? Heck- go back to these:
At times, I think the military can't live without their much vaunted uparmored anything. If you carry moire armor, the bad guys simply build a bigger IED to knock it out.
I bet what ever they choose, it will be made by government motors and is a POS. These libs hate the military and could care less about survivability.
THAT was cool!
In the AF we used to call them “air starts.”
I’ve been considering when looking at military hardware that the enemy may well be us. Think those 450 million .40 cal HPs and the 175 million .223 rounds are for border patrol....
Why not a vehicle with a modular armour kit so that you can operate with little to no armour when it is not needed and attach the armour when it is needed? That, or go with two vehicles: one that is used for areas/missions that do not require armour out the wazoo and another vehicle that is armoured.
It’s a good towncar.
SEALS drive them too, great rig. In Fallujah, the most survivable rig was the John Deere Gator for its speed and agility. Let's hope the contract engineers have a design criteria called: Boogie Index.
I've been wondering the same thing.
MRAP variants, not JLTV.
Yeah, but can it “jump like a Willys in four wheel drive”?
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