High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle

:''This article refers to the Military HMMWV, not the civilian Hummer sold by General Motors'' The M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Hum-Vee) is a highly durable military motor vehicle. It has completely supplanted the role formerly served by the jeep with the United States military. == Features == There are at least 17 variants of the HMMWV in service with the United States armed forces. HMMWV serve as cargo/troop carriers, automatic weapons platforms, ambulances (4 litter patients or 8 ambulatory patients), M220 BGM-71 TOW carriers, M119 howitzer prime movers, Avenger surface-to-air missile platforms, MRQ-12 direct air support vehicles, S250 shelter carriers among many others. It is capable of Wiktionary:Ford 0.762 m normally, or 1.5 meter with deep water fording kit. Optional equipment includes a winch (max load capacity 6000lbs (2700 kg)), and supplemental armor. The M1025 and M1043/M1044 armament carriers provide mounting and firing capabilities for the MK19 grenade launcher, the M2 machine gun, the M240G machine gun and M249 SAW. == History == In the 1970s, the United States Army concluded that the militarized civilian trucks in use no longer satisfied their requirements. In 1979, the Army drafted specifications for a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV. In July of that year, AM General began preliminary design work, and less than a year later, the first prototype, the M998, was in testing. In June 1981, the Army awarded AM General a contract for development of several more prototype vehicles to be delivered to the U.S. government for another series of tests, and the company was later awarded the initial production contract for 55,000 HMMWVs to be delivered in 1985. HMMWVs first saw combat in the Gulf war. They have become the backbone of U.S. forces around the world. In the 2003 invasion of Iraq over 10,000 were used. == Usage in Iraq and political implications == The HMMWV has proven very vulnerable to light infantry weapons, although in its defense, it was never designed to offer such protection in the first place. With the rise of asymmetric warfare and low-intensity conflicts, the HMMWV has found itself thrust into a role it was not originally designed for. Although large variety of HMMWV types is a testament to the vehicle's ability to be modified to meet changing mission conditions, it was never designed as an Armoured_personnel_carrier (APC). As it is not an armored vehicle, HMMWVs are very vulnerable to rocket propelled grenades (or RPGs, which are common among the Iraqi resistance) and offer the troops within little protection from small arms fire. Although there are several Humvee armor kit available for the vehicle which afford it greater protection from small arms fire, these were not provided in great numbers to American forces in Iraq prior to the invasion. As a result of this, American soldiers and Marines often improvise extra armor layers with scrap materials to improve the safety of the HMMWV. While "hardening" or "up-armoring" their vehicles with sandbags, metal, and plywood does make the vehicles arguably safer, it also slows them down. It has also been argued that hardening simply creates more shrapnel when attacked with an RPG or IED. This extra hardening further hampered the ability of the M998 and M1025 due to the addition of excess weight which overloaded the suspension and drivetrain components of these HMMWVs. In 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld came under criticism from US soldiers and their families for not providing better equipped HMMWV [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6694474/]. Rumsfeld pointed out that, prior to the war, armor kits were produced only in small numbers per year. As the role of American forces in Iraq changed from fighting the Iraqi Army to supressing the guerilla insurgency, armor kits were being manufactured as fast as additional production facilities could be brought online. In response to the public outcry over the perceived vulnerability of HMMWVs, the US Department of Defense contracted AM General to make the M1114 Uparmored HMMWV. The M1114 has been in limited production since 1996 and had seen limited use in the Balkans before deployment to the Middle East. This design has a larger, more powerful engine with a turbocharger, air-conditioning and a strengthened suspension and boasts a fully armored passenger area protected by hardened steel and bullet-proof glass. With the increase in direct attacks and guerilla warfare in Iraq AM General has diverted the majority of its manufacturing power to producing these vehicles. ==See also== *technical *jeep *List of \"M\" series military vehicles ==External links== *[http://www.amgeneral.com AM General] *[http://www.army.mil/fact_files_site/hmmwv/ Army fact file] *[http://www.defense-update.com/features/du-3-04/up-armored-humvee.htm M1114 Up-Armored Humvee] *[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/hmmwv.htm HMMWV variants, specs, and pictures] *[http://www.csctce.com/demos/hmmwv_char/ HMMWV characteristics] *[http://paperlined.org/military/reference/HMMWV_pictures.html HMMWV variant pictures] *[http://www.jedsite.info/transport/hotel/hummer_series/hummer-series.html List and pictures of Humvee variants] Military trucks off-road vehicles

High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle

Is "High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle" the actual brand name for the commercial vehicle? If not, perhaps it should be split into a seperate article. As "Hummer" redirects here, I added some other meanings at the end of the article; I'm not sure if this is the best format or not. Perhaps a "Hummer (disambiguation)" page is another possibility? -- Wondering simply, User:Infrogmation 16:33, 18 May 2004 (UTC) Answer: The term "HMMWV" or Humvee is the name of the family of vehicles. It was given that name by the U.S. Army in 1979 - before the actual prototypes were built and contracts were written up. In other words, no matter which variant was to win at that time (AM General, Teledyne, or Chrysler), it was going to be named the HMMWV. --User:Beastmaster May 10, 2005 04:24 (UTC) ---- Couldn't we get a picture of a real Humvee instead of a model? User:Rmhermen 15:35, Jul 7, 2004 (UTC) ---- I moved the GM HUMMER brand to a separate page. More Hummers are based on the GM truck chassis (the H2) than have any relation to the HMMWV nowadays. --User:Sfoskett 03:03, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) == news item == maybe aspects of this news item [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/10/international/middleeast/10military.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=] can be worked into this article. User:Kingturtle 10:04, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC) ---- I read in Newsweek a while back that there are armored and unarmored varients. Anyone feel qualified to touch on this?-User:LtNOWIS 22:38, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC) ---- In my edit, I removed a line mentioning that the PR of China used HMMWVs. I've never read anything like this anywhere else, and I believe it to be untrue. If someone can show me something to the contrary, I'd be happy to put the line back. My updates were based on my knowledge of HMMWVs from my 5 years in the USMC and my time spent in Iraq. User:Fernando Rizo 01:48, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC) : http://www.sinodefence.com/army/transport/hmmwv.asp -- I don't know whether this qualifies as the actual thing or as a copy, though User:Rama 06:31, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC) ** I agree, that thing is darned similar, but I don't think it qualifies as a HMMWV. You can make yellow spongecake and fill it with creme at home, but that doesn't make it a Twinkie:). -User:Fernando Rizo 06:52, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC) == Wear rate == I have heard that the new up armored HMVs break down faster than the unarmored models, the added weight puts strain on the engine, wheels and axles. Does anyone feel qualified to touch on that? Answer: The uparmored HMMWV's have the 6.5L Turbo Diesel engine in it, giving it more horsepower and torque to move the additional mass of the armor. The stock HMMWV has a 6.2 or 6.5L Naturally Aspirated engine in it. --User:Beastmaster May 10, 2005 04:18 (UTC) == NPOV re: vulnerability == I did some copyediting to the article, folks. While taking care of that, I removed the following passage which I feel may adversely effect the article's NPOV. Let's talk about it if you disagree. *"The M-1114 has proven its worth at increased cost by saving countless lives of American military personnel where the standard 998 and 1025 variants would have been destroyed. At this level of hardening the previous concerns about excess shrapnel during an attack have proven unfounded. The M-1114 has proven its worth at increased cost by saving countless lives of American military personnel where the standard 998 and 1025 variants would have been destroyed. At this level of hardening the previous concerns about excess shrapnel during an attack have proven unfounded." I don't think the M1114 has been in service long enough to make such bold claims about its effectiveness. Let's wait a while and revisit this issue later. User:Fernando Rizo 00:19, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

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