HUMMVES BULLET Proof, why so late???

Question

Were all the HUMMVES outfitted with armor prior to being sent to Iraq? and if not why? Is it a money issue?? I hope not.. I understand things get overlooked , but this has to be considered a blunder All HUMMVES should of had some sort of bullet proof glass, doors, or some type of armor..We had from the end of Desert Storm to the begining of Iraq to retro fit our HUMMERS...I find it hard to believe that the US did not see this coming..I know things are 100% better know, this is one case were a lot of injuries and deaths could of have been avoided...Last question, will the armored HUMMVES still float on water?? thanks...........Semper Fi

All HUMMVES are made to float, but once you add armor I dont know??

Answer 1

Like so many have said Lava Dog, HumVees weren't originally designed to be true combat vehicles. They were designed to be tactical vehicles that could go anywhere and follow tank tracks. (Then they came out with the Abrams with wider tracks.)

If you had any armor at all on a HumVee during Desert Storm, you were lucky. The thin aluminum and plastic cover on mine wouldn't even stop the ever so prevalent flies!

Even those hard shell HumVees weren't truly bullet proof, though the "UpArmor" HumVee was developed prior to OEF. It was however kept in small numbers at Arms Depots. There were few available during the early days of Afghanistan.

Clinton wasn't very big on funding anything for the military and certainly did not provide for armored HumVees or Body Armor. Afghanistan was small enough that it allowed us a chance to begin ramping up production of both and by the time Iraq came out, we were beginning to outfit troops with both.

Currently, everyone has good, though heavy body armor. And most vehicles have some type of armor. Thank you W.

Answer 2

Well, like it already been said, the Hummer was meant to replace the Jeep, and the Jeep wasn't bullet resistant. The Jeep have around half a century to be an armored vehicle that is bullet resistant, but it never become one (at least the main production ones).

The Hummer was meant to be the military version of the average civilian car, but it was never meant to be armored.

The problem only occurs if you drive an unarmored vehicle like an armored vehicle. And most of the vehicles sent to wars are unarmored vehicles. Many wars would have already ended by the time you put armors on all necessary war vehicles, it was never a problem about money, it was basically a problem about time.


Anyway. Better personal personnel protection might be a better choice than making all military Hummers into some sort of tanks.

Answer 3

Not all were bullet proof. Some were armored against small arms fire, typically, these were called "tortise shells" with an angular hatch-back. Artillery prime movers were not armored, nor were most support vehicles prior to the Iraq war. Why? Money. It seems certain politicians made great speeches decrying this fact, yet it is the same politicos that tried to limit military spending which in turn limited the number of vehicles that were armored. After the war began, funds were freed and vehicles were modified, retro-fitted in the field to offer a greater degree of protection. "Bullet-proof" to a civillian is a catch all phrase. The correct term should be "bullet resistance" as there is always some munition that can overcome armor. The vehicles were made to be safer. They are still vulnerable to blasts, and self-forming projectiles, like the type being supplied to insurgeants by Iran. It is not a military oversight or error that HMMWVs are vulnerable, and it is unfair to lay the blame on the military, as they are an organization, that like any corportation is limited by fiscal considerations. New vehicles that are blast resistant, to a degree much higher then what can be practically installed on HMMWVs are being fielded slowly. The US military has to be configured primarily to fight a conventional war, insurgeant warfare can be dealt with on a tactical level, with small unit tactics. All that can be done in vehicular sense is to try to adapt as best as possible. HMMWVs cannot typically float, but with a snorkal attachment can ford small waterways and be deployed from landing craft, the Marine Corps often has these attachments on the air- filter of the vehicle, and appears as large pipe extending from the hood. They also have tall exhaust pipes.

Answer 4

You have to understand that we were fighting a different war in Desert Storm. We expected the same conditions when we returned. The problem is that we did our job so well in Desert Storm that the Iraqis knew they had no chance fighing us like they tried to the first time, so, like we did in the 1700's, they changed it up a little.

During Desert Storm, our guys (according to what guys from my unit have told me) went over in simple flak jackets. IBA's were few and far between. The HMMWV's (Humvee's) were often cloth top and sides. They were for transportation, not protection.

From what I can tell (I haven't been over yet) they actually outfitted the vehicles fairly quickly if you consider how many there were to do.

As for your last question, I think we'll have plenty of time to figure that out once we withdraw from Iraq. There aren't a whole lot of bodies of water that they have to worry about falling into in Iraq.

Answer 5

The Humvee was ment to replace the jeep. It wasn't a fighting vehical. The guys in the field using it for something it wasn't designed to do. It then had to be redesigned from the ground up to do what the guys wanted it to do and then the new design had to be built in large numbers. The humvee still can't stop a 500 lbs IED and never will. The U.S. designed the bradley and the stryker to do what they were doing with the humvee. The humvee will need bigger pontoons to float though since the new design is much heavier.

Answer 6

No, the Humvees were not bullet proof before being sent over to Iraq. They were never made bullet proof because of Bill Clinton's cutback on the military during the 90's and 2000.

Answer 7

i think it was a funding problem but many of the humvies either come bullet proof or a 44b mos (welder) will weld pieces and panels on to make it bullet proof. i dont know about a floating humvees i know that some vehicles are made for deep water but not necessarly made to float.

plus they have floating bridges now that they can lay in the water open them up hook them together and bamm you have a bridge anywhere.

Answer 8

floating humvees huh bullet proof too damn what will they think of next why you could just drive around and kill everything couldnt you.

Answer 9

They're not bomb proof, and that's the problem...