Humvees in new lease of life

MY STORY TODAY The Humvee became one of the most visible and iconic US military vehicles on the battlefield in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan and was due to be replaced. However, it seems the Humvee still has legs, and the Pentagon wants to keep it in service and spend millions of dollars on updating it for the next war. Like the US Air Force’s B-52, A-10 “Warthog” ground-attack fighter and U-2 spy plane, the Humvee has a status all of its own in the American military, and the Pentagon wants to persuade Congress to provide the funds. The troop-carrying vehicle that was adapted multiple times to survive in increasingly lethal counter-insurgency conflicts, came into service in 1983 with a long and unmemorable name: high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle. It wasn’t long before it was known to every soldier as a Humvee . The name stuck and its versatility and ruggedness brought customers from around the world. It also became the trophy vehicle for the Taliban who captured hundreds of them from the Afghan national security forces. There is a programme already underway to replace the Humvee with a new generation joint light tactical vehicle. The acronym JLTV doesn’t have the same ring to it and is not yet ready for operational service. Now the Pentagon has decided to use some of the funds for the JLTV to keep the Humvee alive and well and operationally effective. A request has been made to Congress to approve an additional $36 million to keep the Humvee production line going and upgrade existing ones, of which more than $20 million will come from the JLTV project. The Humvee manufacturer, AM General, based in South Bend, Indiana, produced at least a dozen variants of the vehicle, including a military ambulance and a commercial one for civilian use. As on the battlefield, the civilian version acquired iconic status. The first American to acquire one was Arnold Schwarznegger. In 1990 he was driving to a film set in western Oregon when he overtook a convoy of military vehicles and spotted the Humvee with its cool, muscular body, wide wheelbase, protruding grille, and emitting a growling diesel roar. It perfectly matched his own Hollywood image and he wanted one. He persuaded AM General to produce a commercial model, to be known as the Hummer. He became the proud owner of a $50,000 Hummer in the summer of 1991, and a new craze was launched. The military version wasn’t always a success. When insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan began developing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and armour-piercing grenades, the unarmoured Humvees were suddenly vulnerable. In 2006, as the insurgency in Iraq raged, about 70 US soldiers died when their Humvees were hit by IEDs. The Humvee had not been designed as a combat vehicle and it was hastily armoured to provide more protection for the eight troop passengers. The Humvee made its first appearance in combat in Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama in 1989.