Monday 15th February 2010

Last Post To Sound For Humvee

US veteran to end production after final US army order

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HMMWV is being phased out in favour of...

The US military is set to phase out its Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. Indiana-based AM General will build no more examples of The HMMWV, better known to you and me as the Humvee, after it has honoured one last order for 2620 Humvees from the US army.

The Hummer H1 road car, once so beloved of a pre-Prius Arnie, has been dead for quite a while, but don't confuse that car with the military-spec Humvee, which is still going strong. In fact, the Hummer brand is entirely independent of AM General, and Hummer's parent company, GM, is still hard at work trying to flog the road car business to the Chinese, specifically Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery.

...this, the more IED-resistant Oshkosh M-ATV

The pukka military Humvee has been in active service since 1985, when it took over from the severely-long-in-the-tooth original Jeep. Now, though, the prevalence of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in current theatres of war - Afghanistan in particular - requires a new, more specialised and heavily armoured vehicle to help cart troops about.

The US military now requires MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles), and the warhorse that fits this specification is the Oshkosh M-ATV. The US military made its first order for 2244 M-ATVs, worth $1.05bn, back in June last year.

It's not quite the end for the military Humvee, however, as many of the 240,000 produced in the past quarter-century are still going strong with the US army, navy, marine corps and air force. In fact, the US army alone has earmarked almost a billion dollars for the upkeep of its existing Humvees.

[TheRoadWarrior]

So is the military Humvee dead or not??

>>The US military is set to phase out its Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. Indiana-based AM General will build no more examples of The HMMWV, better known to you and me as the Humvee

>>the military-spec Humvee, which is still going strong.

Confused..

[soad]

Love those Hummer H1's.
New one seems much better for the job - look at that armour!

[Riggers]

TheRoadWarrior said:

So is the military Humvee dead or not??

>>The US military is set to phase out its Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. Indiana-based AM General will build no more examples of The HMMWV, better known to you and me as the Humvee

>>the military-spec Humvee, which is still going strong.

Confused..

Production is over - active service is not...

[beardiebloke]

Are my maths wrong or does that work out as $467,914 per vehicle??? I hope they get free floor mats and a full tank with that.

[ctallchris]

beardiebloke said:

Are my maths wrong or does that work out as $467,914 per vehicle??? I hope they get free floor mats and a full tank with that.

this is probably why we still use land rovers

[Oddball RS]

We use landies because they are cheap and fit for European roads and theatres where Humvees are just too wide, sadly they are far from perfect for their current use but thats why they are now being replaced in that role.

Nothing on wheels is as good against IED's as a helicopter though - is it Mr Brown?

[HellDiver]

ctallchris said:

beardiebloke said:

Are my maths wrong or does that work out as $467,914 per vehicle??? I hope they get free floor mats and a full tank with that.

this is probably why we still use land rovers

Think of how many half-shafts and engines you could put through a L-R before getting to that price. At least 3 years worth!

[soad]

beardiebloke said:

Are my maths wrong or does that work out as $467,914 per vehicle???

You're right (i make it a little under $470,000 apiece) about the price! They don't come cheap.

[Munter]

Oddball RS said:

We use landies because they are cheap and fit for European roads and theatres where Humvees are just too wide, sadly they are far from perfect for their current use but thats why they are now being replaced in that role.

Nothing on wheels is as good against IED's as a helicopter though - is it Mr Brown?

That depends if your purpose is to find and disarm them. Or to ignore them.

If you don't find them and disarm them, you'll never own the ground. If you don't own the ground you're just flying about getting shot at for no reason.

[Mike69]

I really hope that the replacement, isn't going to spawn a series of 'Plastic Gangsta' road vehicles.

[vintageracer01]

Is this Oshkosh M-ATV a Russian vehicule? Where is the production facility of this thing?

[soad]

vintageracer01 said:

Is this Oshkosh M-ATV a Russian vehicule? Where is the production facility of this thing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_Corporation

[GIRF]

Oshkosh is a town in Wisconsin and is the location of Oshkosh Defense.

[T89 Callan]

A real shame that a truly iconic vehicle is ending production although at least like the Series Land Rovers they will still be in Military service long after production ends.

[hairykrishna]

Half a million dollars each? Really? The joy of being an American defence contractor.

[ctallchris]

Oddball RS said:

We use landies because they are cheap and fit for European roads and theatres where Humvees are just too wide, sadly they are far from perfect for their current use but thats why they are now being replaced in that role.

Nothing on wheels is as good against IED's as a helicopter though - is it Mr Brown?

Hmm the choice between having a landrover where you can drive it anywhere but it's vunerable to ied's an american best part of half a million ied proof car that has it's wheels blown off and injures it's occupants but leaves them with a chance of rescue or a helicopter which costs millions can be shot down killing all occupants by any muppet with an ak who gets lucky divorces any chance of a relationship with the local population and costs the military budget of a small country to run... possibly we just need some form of balance

[loltolhurst]

whats with the stealth like doors - dont look easy to get in for a chap with full battle gear on?

wouldnt jet packs be better..

[pistolp]

I'm glad they are getting the equipment they need - mind you it doesn't say anything about delivery?

I feel for our boys out there in those tin cans just waiting to be blown up

[Spiritual_Beggar]

GIRF said:

Oshkosh is a town in Wisconsin and is the location of Oshkosh Defense.

"And in a related story, Military to now get their clothing supply from Oshkosh B'gosh.....though the larger sizes could prove a problem at the factories"

Edited by Spiritual_Beggar on Monday 15th February 12:56

[ex6]

the article said:

The US military made its first order for 2244 M-ATVs, worth $1.05bn, back in June last year.

Whoa...

1,05bn / 2244 = $467914,44 = £298930,94 per vehicle!!! Awesome!

Edited by ex6 on Monday 15th February 15:55