In the late 1970s the army realised it needed a light vehicle that could keep its soldiers safe against emerging threats like IEDs and car bombs. It drafted specifications for an easily-manoeuvrable jack-of-all-trades truck and three companies were invited to design prototypes.
However, bolting armor onto jeeps placed too much of a burden on the chassis and drove up mechanical failures. Contact Street Legal Humvee For Sale now!
As far as military vehicles go, the Humvee is an icon. But it wasn’t always a symbol of machism; the first HMMWVs, as the army called them then, were essentially modernisations of older trucks that had served in many roles. In the late 1970s, the army wanted one “jack-of-all-trades” light tactical vehicle that could replace a variety of existing models.
That vehicle came in the form of the Humvee, which got its first taste of fame during the 1989 invasion of Panama to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega. Then it took part in the Gulf War of the 1990s and the ongoing Wars on Terror since 2001. But by the end of the last decade, it had started to show its age. The minimally-armored truck proved to be little more than a rolling coffin in the face of small arms fire and roadside improvised explosive devices; even “up-armored” versions were still vulnerable.
It would be a stretch to say the Humvee is dead, but its future in the military is shaky at best. The Army has begun replacing the aging fleet with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which is better at some things than the Humvee, and worse in others. But the JLTV is also significantly more expensive than the Humvee, and it will take some time to build up a full production run.
While the military is phasing out its old trucks, it will likely hang on to some Humvees as an insurance policy for years to come. The service will continue to prioritize newer platforms, but the Humvee remains a critical platform that can carry soldiers and gear over rugged terrain with relative ease.
With that in mind, we decided to take a look at the enduring appeal of the Humvee and what makes it so good as an everyday vehicle for soldiers. We’ll explore the vehicle’s unique design, talk about what it can do on and off-road, and give you some tips for buying your very own military surplus Humvee. So sit back and read on, because this is going to be an exciting ride.
The Humvee’s mission
After running their jeeps ragged in Vietnam, the Army needed a new workhorse. They came up with some specs (drool-worthy, off-roading, capable of hauling weapons and crew, able to replace two jeeps and an antitank missile trailer all by itself) and asked the private sector to design it. The result was the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee.
It was a smash hit from the start. Soldiers loved it for its imposing snarl and off-road ability, while civilians couldn’t get enough of the way it looked. And it seemed like nothing could stop the mighty Humvee from crushing miles of desert and rolling across foreign battlefields.
But as the military shifted its focus to urban areas in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Humvee began taking a beating. As its specialized armor failed to deflect roadside bombs, the military’s iconic Humvee became a symbol of America’s brash decision-making and rushed entrance into a war some thought it wasn’t prepared to fight.
The Humvee is the tallest truck in the world without being the largest. This is because everything under the Humvee’s chassis is pulled up into its cabin, reducing the size of its cab and making it possible to load more weight in the front of the vehicle, where it is most important. It also allows the Humvee to be towed by other vehicles or dropped from aircraft using parachutes.
A HMMWV from Killer Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, maneuvers to provide support to the ground force during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in southern Afghanistan.
While the Humvee still plays a critical role in many military operations, the Pentagon is now betting that the next generation of vehicles will better protect soldiers from the kind of roadside explosives that turned the Humvee into little more than a rolling coffin in Iraq. These newer vehicles, called the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle or MRAP, have more advanced armor and are built to better bounce back from the blasts.
But even if the Humvee is outmatched by the next wave of warfare, it’s safe to say the big bruiser will be around for a long time. With gas prices rising, military budgets dwindling and wars changing, the Humvee’s rugged, adventurous spirit lives on.
The Humvee’s power
In its prime, the Humvee was a dominating off-road vehicle. It steamrolled miles of desert and could take a beating from roadside improvised explosive devices. But it was when it had to perform in the crowded streets of the world’s most dangerous cities that the Humvee really proved its mettle. Despite its imposing size, these vehicles are agile and easy to maneuver.
As a result, they can carry massive payloads and are perfect for transporting supplies or equipment. They have a low center of gravity, which helps them to climb slopes and navigate muddy or snowy terrain. They also have a special design that allows them to drive over obstacles and other terrain without damaging their undersides. This is achieved by connecting their axels to the top of their tires rather than the center, which gives them more clearance and makes them a lot safer for driving off-road.
Despite the military’s desire to upgrade its fleet with newer vehicles, it’s important not to overlook the critical role that older models play. They’re a staple in front line combat and they serve many other roles as well, including logistics and supply missions. The Army’s JLTV is a more advanced vehicle that will eventually replace the Humvee, but service planners are still trying to find the balance between prioritizing future platforms and maintaining and enhancing their current fleet.
The Humvee’s power comes from a V8 diesel 6.2 liter or turbo diesel 6.5 liter engine. Its four-wheel drive system and independent suspension make it a formidable off-roader, while its all-terrain capability allows it to traverse even the most rugged landscapes.
Humvees are equipped with disk brakes, which give them more stopping power than rim brakes. These brakes are essential for a vehicle as large as the Humvee, as they help to keep it from rolling over in rough terrain and causing injuries to its occupants.
Adding to the Humvee’s formidable capabilities is its ability to store and distribute power to external assets. This is made possible by its plug-in hybrid technology, which combines the power of the ICE with an electric motor to improve acceleration and fuel efficiency while reducing emissions. It’s also capable of running on all-electric mode, which can be used to silence the engine and reduce its acoustic and thermal signature.
The Humvee’s armor
Despite the success of the Humvee in maneuvering through rugged desert terrain and the vehicle’s popularity with civilians, it was ultimately discovered that the soft-skinned HMMWV was easily beaten by improvised explosive devices and small arms fire. As the insurgency gained ground in Iraq, a growing number of soldiers were killed or wounded riding in them. The Army hastily up-armored select models and replaced frontline units with a more rugged version called the MRAP.
On factory floors that stretch the length of football fields at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, workers labor around the clock to produce add-on armor kits for the Humvees and supply trucks. It’s the Army’s only start-to-finish armor-making plant.
Workers weld sheets of steel thicker than a boxcar, shaped into the contours of the Humvee and fitted with bullet-proof glass. On the day of this interview, temporary worker Marty Bollman sat hunched over a welding machine, his face covered with a mask and a protective helmet. He’d lost his job at a steel mill 10 months earlier and said that he was lucky to have this work.
The armor kits are designed to protect the vehicles from a range of threats including small arms fire, improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades. The kits can be bolted onto a standard HMMWV or the more advanced A1-version, which is built to carry more equipment and can take more punishment. The armor can also be removed, allowing the Humvees to operate more efficiently in non-threat situations.
At the time of this writing, there are roughly 2,500 up-armored Humvees in theater. The initial pre-deployment site survey assessment had called for about 1,000 but as commanders saw the enemy’s changing tactics they upped that figure to speed up production and get the vehicles into theatre. The contractor, Armor Holdings, established a new group to respond to military requests and has increased the number of vehicles it produces each month.
The Army has also been purchasing and installing 8,000 kits to protect the windshields and doors of additional Humvees that have already been shipped to Iraq. Many of these additional vehicles are trucked HMMWVs that were not originally intended for frontline combat but have been hastily up-armored to address the threat of roadside bombs and small arms fire.