Unarmored Humvees In Iraq

[SpartanWarriorXI]

Anybody else see a problem with this??? These things are made of simple metal with NO armor. They're not meant to see combat. I mean they can't even stop a 7.62 AK round let alone heavy small arms fire or RPGs. Sounds like our government needs to step it up a little bit to support our troops in Iraq and elsewhere. Thoughts???

[Philos Sophos]

I thought the humwees had armour on them?...

[imb39]

They must be safe enough. McCain said that Patreaus drives around in Baghdad in one. McCain knows his stuff - he's a veteran.

[Mikelus Trento]

They must be safe enough. McCain said that Patreaus drives around in Baghdad in one. McCain knows his stuff - he's a veteran.

Correction - McCain USED to know his stuff......FORTY years ago. As he reminds us all so often. Seems to me someone who knows the stuff about today's world should be the leader....someone who knew we shouldn't be invading Iraq from day 1, rather than someone who is trigger happy and imperialistic.

McCain's pick of Miss Bubblehead demonstrates very clearly he has lost whatever stuff he had.

[imb39]

Correction - McCain USED to know his stuff......FORTY years ago. As he reminds us all so often. Seems to me someone who knows the stuff about today's world should be the leader....someone who knew we shouldn't be invading Iraq from day 1, rather than someone who is trigger happy and imperialistic.

McCain's pick of Miss Bubblehead demonstrates very clearly he has lost whatever stuff he had.

I was being sarcastic...

[Mikelus Trento]

I was being sarcastic...

oh, sorry. Way to be then.

[Rapax]

Anybody else see a problem with this??? These things are made of simple metal with NO armor. They're not meant to see combat. I mean they can't even stop a 7.62 AK round let alone heavy small arms fire or RPGs. Sounds like our government needs to step it up a little bit to support our troops in Iraq and elsewhere. Thoughts???

Where the hell have you been the last couple of years?

[Guderian's Duck]

RPGs cant take out pretty much all of the vehicles we deploy to Iraq short of a tank. So...yeah.

..someone who knew we shouldn't be invading Iraq from day 1, rather than someone who is trigger happy and imperialistic.

Well that's great and all--but we're there already and have been for years now. So it's a bit late to be debating whether or not we should be there because we are there.

[Hookah Smoking Caterpiller]

Anybody else see a problem with this??? These things are made of simple metal with NO armor. They're not meant to see combat. I mean they can't even stop a 7.62 AK round let alone heavy small arms fire or RPGs. Sounds like our government needs to step it up a little bit to support our troops in Iraq and elsewhere. Thoughts???

Got any proof for this? I assume their armored to some degree

[Erik]

Anybody else see a problem with this??? These things are made of simple metal with NO armor. They're not meant to see combat. I mean they can't even stop a 7.62 AK round let alone heavy small arms fire or RPGs. Sounds like our government needs to step it up a little bit to support our troops in Iraq and elsewhere. Thoughts???

By thought:
Better a Humvee than a Jeep.

Although there is one modern war philosophy that states it's better for soldier in a guerrilla war to completely expose themselves in open vehicles - so that the civilian population can see then straight in their eyes, which breeds sympathy.

[The Alcotroll]

Although there is one modern war philosophy that states it's better for soldier in a guerrilla war to completely expose themselves in open vehicles - so that the civilian population can see then straight in their eyes, which breeds sympathy.

Think we discredited that one quite thoroughly in Basra. In blessed retrospect, it seems that soft hats and smiles weren't such a good idea. Turns out the locals would have respected some good old-fashioned arse-kicking rather more.

[Heinz Guderian]

Too much armour makes it slow and the engine cant cope. It was designed for fast recon stuff. The goverment signed a contract with General Motors. Armouring up all humvees is economically difficult, and they still would be vulnerable. Only tanks offer some sort of protection but even they are now vulnerable to shaped charges.

The Munro Effect: kicking ass and taking lives.

edit: i used to date a girl whose surname was Munro. She used to wear a cowboy hat for me during. Pretty weird. I cant quit you.

[Erik]

It was designed for fast recon stuff.

I thought the Humvee was designed for troop transport behind the front?
And didn't it perform great at this task during the Gulf War?

Think we discredited that one quite thoroughly in Basra. In blessed retrospect, it seems that soft hats and smiles weren't such a good idea. Turns out the locals would have respected some good old-fashioned arse-kicking rather more.

I thought Basra went down pretty well, compared to the rest of Iraq.

[Heinz Guderian]

I thought the Humvee was designed for troop transport behind the front?
And didn't it perform great at this task during the Gulf War?
.

Yeah...well..we won, so nyeah. Where are your Scud missiles now Eric? Where are they now?

[Holger Danske]

I thought the Humvee was designed for troop transport behind the front?
And didn't it perform great at this task during the Gulf War?




I thought Basra went down pretty well, compared to the rest of Iraq.

You see, the problem with the Humvee is that it has been given too many roles it never was designed for in the first place. It's not a real/proper patrol vehicle, like the Eagle III+, and I really wonder why on Earth a military with the budget as the US uses such second-hand solutions to such important task :hmmm:

Patriotism at work?...

[Каие]

Think we discredited that one quite thoroughly in Basra. In blessed retrospect, it seems that soft hats and smiles weren't such a good idea. Turns out the locals would have respected some good old-fashioned arse-kicking rather more.

Yeah innit (!) Like this;



I can assure you that added nothing to our mission or image.

[Sharrow]

Unarmored vehicles - perpetuated again because this is just more GOP the little guy - in this case the Soldier - 'cause nothing matters more to the GOP then saving a few dollars if all that is at stake is a few AMERICAN lives....

McCAin is a bought tool. A fraction of the man who stood in 2000 and now, sadly, utterly bought cheap by the 'screw the common soldier' wing of the GOP (i.e. most of the Republican Party, with a Chuck Hagel shaped exception).

[humvee2800]

I am always armoured

and actually Mccain knows a fair bit still about the military, the technologys change but hes been around as its changed.

[mrmouth]

Think we discredited that one quite thoroughly in Basra. In blessed retrospect, it seems that soft hats and smiles weren't such a good idea. Turns out the locals would have respected some good old-fashioned arse-kicking rather more.

AMEN.

[Hotspur]

The HMMWV was designed primarily for personnel and light cargo transport behind front lines. Like the previous Jeep, the basic HMMWV has no armor or protection against Nuclear-Biologic-Chemical (NBC) threats. Nevertheless, losses were relatively low in conventional operations, such as Desert Storm. Vehicles and crews suffered considerable damage and losses during the Battle of Mogadishu due to the nature of the urban engagement, however, the chassis survivability allowed the majority of those crews to return to safety, though the HMMWV was never designed to offer protection against intense small arms fire, much less machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. However, with the rise of asymmetric warfare and low intensity conflicts, the HMMWV has been pressed into service in urban combat roles it was not originally intended for.

Thank you, Mr. Wiki. That was very informative. What did the US armed forces finally do?

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are a family of armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED attacks and ambushes. IEDs cause the majority (63%) of US deaths in Iraq.[1] There is no common MRAP vehicle design; there are several vendors, each with a competing entry.[2] Brig. General Michael Brogan of the United States Marine Corps is in charge of the MRAP program, for which the Marines are the lead service.[3] The Marine Corps had planned to replace all HMMWVs in combat zones with MRAP vehicles, although this appears to have changed.[4][5][6][7] As armored vehicles are considered an "urgent need" in Iraq and Afghanistan, this program is primarily funded under an "emergency war budget". On 2007-05-08 Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that the acquisition of MRAPs are the Department of Defense highest priority, [8] so for fiscal year 2007 US$1.1 billion is earmarked for MRAP .[9] Gates decided to ramp up MRAP orders after the Marines reported in 2004 that no troops had died in more than 300 IED attacks on Cougars [10] As of May 6, 2008 eight soldiers had been reported killed in the thousands of MRAPs in Iraq, according to news service Knight Ridder.[11]

Once again, the free world is saved by Mr. Wiki.