The Humvee—or the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)—has become an icon of US military power. The basic design has 15 variations, from cargo and troop transports to ambulances, but they all share a common chassis, drive train, and suspension.
Until 2014, surplus Humvees were cannibalized for parts and sent to civilian auctions like IronPlanet. But the Army is finally moving away from these bulky, over-protected vehicles. Click the Street Legal Humvee For Sale to learn more.
The Humvee is a famous military vehicle that has become an icon of America’s military might. It has been used in many conflicts and wars, including the 1991 Gulf War. The vehicle’s ruggedness and ability to traverse challenging terrain made it popular among soldiers and civilians alike. Today, Humvees are still a staple of the US military’s operations. However, its days as a main military vehicle appear to be numbered.
In the late 1970s, the Army had run its fleet of jeeps ragged, and it was clear that a major upgrade was needed. It wanted a “jack-of-all-trades” light tactical vehicle that could haul equipment, weapons, and crew. Initially, it had considered militarising civilian trucks but found them unreliable and ill-suited to the task at hand. In 1979, the Army issued a request for proposals that asked AM General, Chrysler Defense, and Teledyne Continental to create prototypes for the new military workhorse.
AM General’s design, which was dubbed the Humvee, impressed the Army enough to award it a contract for 55,000 units. The vehicles were put to the test and proved their worth during the invasion of Panama and the Gulf War in 1991.
During the Iraq War in 2003, the Humvee was still going strong, but it faced new threats like IEDs and car bombs that were able to penetrate the vehicle’s armor. It became increasingly difficult to keep up with the evolving threat and soldiers had to improvise, making the vehicles lighter by removing unnecessary armour and even doors.
In 2007, the Pentagon began replacing the Humvee with MRAPs, or Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. These vehicles are bigger, heavier, and more insulated, but they do not have the off-road capabilities of the Humvee. The military has also been working on a replacement called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle that is expected to be stronger, lighter, and more nimble than the Humvee.
The Design
A big, boxy vehicle with a wheel at each corner, the Humvee has been at the forefront of the US military’s wheeled fleet since its first production run in 1984. Originally called the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), it was designed as a jack-of-all-trades replacement for the Army’s jeeps and light trucks. The funny-looking 4×4 has conquered mud, sand and rocks; pulled trailers on highways; evaded detection in the desert and ridden inside transport aircrafts. It’s gotten the job done in all kinds of situations, and maybe – aside from the M1 Abrams battle tank – no other military vehicle has represented the Army better than the Humvee.
While it hasn’t been without its problems, like adding too much armour to a vehicle that was never designed for such a role, the Humvee’s design is no doubt responsible for its success. It’s designed to be easily maintained, incorporating new standards for reliability, availability, maintainability and survivability. It has also proven to be extremely durable and is capable of operating in a variety of environments from deserts to jungles.
At this year’s Eurosatory 2022, AM General unveiled the HUMVEE SABER, a redesign of its original Humvee vehicle platform that’s built to meet the needs of modern warfare. The vehicle offers more protection than the original model, including 360-degree kinetic energy threat and blast threat protection.
The new vehicle will also offer a more flexible and agile platform that can support various advanced weapons systems and mission equipment. For example, it can be equipped with a counter unmanned aerial system that can track and defeat drones while the vehicle is in motion. It also features a proprietary cabin that provides more space and a greater ability to integrate systems like mine protection, ballistics defense and counter-measures.
The Engine
There are a lot of military vehicles in the world, and each has their own unique capabilities. But the Humvee might be the most impressive one of them all. With full-time four-wheel drive, a tried and true 6.5L diesel engine (with a turbo version also available), the ability to climb up a 60% slope, and the ability to ford water up to 2 feet deep, the Humvee is truly a beast.
It is also incredibly durable, with a chassis and drivetrain designed to withstand a lot of abuse. The Humvee is also unique in that its entire undercarriage can be removed and the whole vehicle dropped from a plane by parachute, allowing it to be transported more easily.
The Humvee has a number of different variations, from ambulances to cargo and troop carriers, but they all share a common chassis and engine. This makes it easy for mechanics to work on all of them, and each one has 44 interchangeable parts so that they can be fixed quickly if something goes wrong.
Of course, a lot of the Humvee’s success comes from its impressive abilities on the battlefield. It was used during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, where it faced machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. It even suffered a few landmine hits but was able to continue fighting after the initial damage.
The military was so impressed with the HMMWV that they awarded AM General a contract to develop more prototypes. This led to the creation of the Hummer, a civilian adaptation of the Humvee. Today, GM owns the Hummer name, and they have developed a variety of different models, but they are still based on the same chassis as the military’s vehicle.
The Transmission
The Humvee is the face of power projection for the Army & Marine Corps. It’s the most iconic, legendary & easily recognized piece of military hardware in history. The vehicle has conquered mud, sand, rocks, snow and everything in between. It has evaded detection in the desert, pulled trailers down the highway, ridden inside CH-53 helicopters, and even jumped entire continents in transport aircraft. While there are many different variations of the Humvee, from ambulances to cargo/troop transports to tube-launched command-guided missile carriers, they all share a common chassis. This means they all have 44 interchangeable parts that make it easy for mechanics to work on them.
It has full time four-wheel drive and uses portal axles to reduce gear reduction while boosting ground clearance to 16 inches. This allows the vehicle to climb a 60 percent incline, traverse 40 percent slopes and ford 2.5 feet of water with a snorkel. All these abilities put a heavy strain on the vehicle, which requires routine maintenance and often needs spare parts that are hard to come by.
However, Humvees are tough and can last a long time if they are kept in good condition. They are also easy to maintain, which makes them a great choice for the military and contractors. They are also incredibly durable, and they can withstand a lot of rough weather.
The Humvee is still in use today and is expected to continue until at least 2050. However, the Army is in the process of replacing it with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which has better armor and a more powerful engine.
The Final Words
In the Army, there are no shortage of stories of hapless soldiers killed by their Humvees, and families of the deceased are now banding together to try to change military policies. They argue that the soft-skinned vehicles are too vulnerable to battlefield conditions, and they complain that the Defense Department has been slow to adopt changes.
The family of one soldier, Pfc. John D. Hart, from Bedford, Mass., is taking its case to the Senate Armed Services Committee. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday.
But the Pentagon is not about to ditch its fleet of more than 5,000 old Humvees, also known as legacy vehicles. The newer Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV, is not perfect at everything the Humvee does well, but it is better at many things.
The military is experimenting with ways to improve the JLTV. One option is to equip it with safety features like anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control systems, which are standard on most modern civilian cars. But the military may have to spend a lot of money to do that.
As for the aging Humvees, the military is trying to address some of its rollover issues. It is investing in driver training and making sure the drivers are not carrying too much weight in the back of the vehicles, which can increase their chances of rolling over. Kurt Delia, president of a company that instructs the military and law enforcement on the safe operation of vehicles, says that in some cases, troops carry too much ammunition or boxes of supplies in the back of their Humvees.
The Army is also looking into adding more armor to the vehicle, which could help reduce the number of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by improving their protection from the kinds of explosions that can destroy the Humvees. But that will require a major investment, and some members of Congress are reluctant to pay for it.