Army Will Test Lighter Humvee

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Baltimore Sun
September 12, 2007
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The Army said yesterday that it will begin testing a nonmetal Humvee that is 900 pounds lighter than its conventional counterpart so it can add extra armor to better protect soldiers from roadside bombs. Army officials have not committed to buying any of the vehicles, whose frames and bodies are made of a combination of Fiberglas, balsa wood, foam and carbon reinforcements held together with resin, said Steven Lockard, president and CEO of Warren, R.I.-based TPI Composites Inc., which built the prototype vehicle.
 
A couple questions come to mind. The base configuration (M998 ) weighs in at about 5200 pounds. Depending on the armor configuration, that weight shoots up between half and two tons. (source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/hmmwvua.htm) What is an extra 900 pounds of armor going to do? Will it be worth the additional cost of all the Fiberglas, balsa wood, foam and carbon reinforcements held together with resin? (source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2007-09-11-lighter-humvees_N.htm)
 
~400 kg of armor isent that much in my view..thatn again im used to having a good several tons of armor, so maybe im not completely objective...
 
I dunno, driving around in a warzone with a car built from Balsa wood and fiberglass
and glued together with resin, doesn't make me feel very safe.
 
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Might actually increase survivability if you think about it. Energy that would normally be transferred to the guys inside might be expended on the vehicle being blown apart. Ironically this can save people.
 
Well, an Explosively Formed Penetrator passes into, and in many cases through the Vehicle... an act which will happen more easily with less resistance on the ridged unyielding body of the Vehicle with less Armor.

On the other hand, I had always put forth that Bomb Blankets were the way to go as far as what to use inside the HUMVEE to help with IEDs.
The Bomb Blanket has a lot of give to it, so it would better absorb force exerted on the structure of the outside of the Vehicle at the point of impact. Bomb Blankets can also be easily removed to supply Combat Forces with Man Portable Readily Available Cover outside the HUMVEE in case of a Firefight, Recover, or Search Operations.
So, it's a win-win.
 
Quite a few people.... no word yet though, sadly my last name is not Haliburton, Honeywell, Rockwell, Lockheed, Martin, or Marietta.
EOD Techs have been known to sit on their Bomb Blankets while in a Vehicle, and they come in handy.
 
How would you carry out field maintenance on such a vehicle? Safety first however, I rather read about safe soldiers walking than vice versa.
 
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