FRIDAY FOTO (December 13, 2019)

Stick in the Mud.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Dylan Hess)

Even in an era of satellite communications, radar evading stealth fighter jets and artificial intelligence, some times the most effective tool is a man with a shovel.

Marines clear mud from a stuck High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)  — probably better known as a Humvee — during a field exercise at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan on December 11, 2019. (See photo below)

Starting in 1983, the AM General Humvee family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles began replacing the Vietnam-era jeep, the latest version of an off-road vehicle first manufactured in World War II.

Although they were designed without armor for traveling back and forth at the rear in a combat zone, Humvees first saw combat in Operation Just Cause, the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. They saw even more action in Somalia, the Balkans and the Gulf War in the 1990s. However, without armor, both vehicles and crews suffered considerable damage and losses during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.  Subsequent versions of the HMMWV were built with armor and bullet proof windows that could withstand small arms fire.

But the still lightly armored, Cold War-era Humvee could not protect troops from powerful, homemade bombs – known as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) – the enemy used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military replaced many Humvees with heavy-duty vehicles called MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) designed with specialized undersides to withstand IEDs. But the MRAPS were slow, top-heavy and had limited capability off-road and on narrow urban streets.

After an 11-year search and development program headed by the Army, both services picked Oshkosh Trucks to build the Humvee and MRAP replacement, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).  It is bigger, better armored and more comfortable than the Humvee.

The Marine Corps declared the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle officially ready in August to deploy and support the naval expeditionary forces worldwide. The Army did so a few months earlier. However, due to shifting budget priorities and other factors, the full replacement of all HMMWVs is expected to take years.

This is how it’s supposed to look when Marines drive a Humvee through the mud at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, on December 11, 2019.

WEAPONRY AND EQUIPMENT: Army Picks Oshkosh Corp.’s JLTV Offering

$6.75 Billion Contract.

Oshkosh Corp. L-ATV offering.
(Photo courtesy of Oshkosh Corp.)

The U.S. Army has selected Oshkosh Corp. to build the new combat vehicle to replace the military’s aging Humvee troop carier.

In a statement released late Tuesday (August 25), the Army said was awarding the Wisconsin heavy truck maker a contract, valued at $6.7 billion, to the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) for both the Army and Marine Corps.

Initial production, first at a low rate, 17,000 vehicles for the Army and Marines, is slated to begin in the first three months of Fiscal Year 2016, which begins October 1.  The Pentagon is expected to make a decision on full-rate production in Fiscal Year 2018. Overall the Marines will acquire 5,500 JLTVs, while the Army take nearly 50,000 by 2040. The contract could swell to $30 billion if all 55,000 vehicles are built.

The U.S. military has been looking to replace the lightly armored Humvee (High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle) since 2006. In the first years of the Iraq war, thousands of troops were injured or killed when even up-armored Humvees were blasted by mines and roadside bombs. The JLTV program sought a combat vehicle more heavily armored than the Humvee but more maneuverable vehicle than the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Army soldiers in a Humvee in Iraq 2006.
(U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate 3rd Class Shawn Hussong)

The JLTV will be built in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with deliveries beginning 10 months after contract award. The Army anticipates having its first unit equipped with JLTVs in FY 2018.

The Army, which led the JLTV joint acquisition program with the Marines, selected Oshkosh over Humvee manufacturer AM General and giant defense contractor Lockheed Martin. At a Pentagon briefing late Tuesday, Army officials declined to specify what characteristics led them to pick Oshkosh’s offering, known as the L-ATV. That may be because one or both of the also-rans could file a protest, challenging the decision.

Lockheed and AM General have 10 days to file formal protests over the contract award, the Associated Press noted. Both companies issued statements saying they are considering their options.

All three companies participated in the program’s engineering and manufacturing development phase, which began in 2012. Each competitor send a total of 22 prototypes for field tests at Aberdeen, Maryland and Yuma, Arizona, and other government proving grounds.

FRIDAY FOTO (April 26, 2013)

Isn’t that a Flying Car?

(U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher)

Ever see a Humvee fly? Well here’s what it looks like when soldiers drop a Humvee from an Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft into the clear blue skies of Alaska.

This airdrop took place over Malamute Drop Zone followed by paratroopers at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The soldiers are assigned to the 25th Infantry Division’s 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team.

For more photos of this operation, click here.

FRIDAY FOTO (September 23, 2011)

Large Package, Large Plane

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)

Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division await takeoff as they sit next to a Humvee and 105mm howitzer in the cargo hold of a C-17 Globemaster III heavy lift aircraft on Pope Field, N.C., Sept. 10, 2011. As part of a joint Army-Air Force exercise, C-17 crews use parachutes to transport the heavy equipment to the drop zone on the first pass.

It’s all standard operating procedure during the Large Package Week (seriously) exercise. The aim of Large Package Week (LPW) is to build cohesiveness between the sky soldiers and the airmen who deliver them to the drop zone. The services practice air-dropping  vehicles, artillery pieces, supplies — and troops — to improve readiness for the 82nd’s mission to be able to make a forcible entry into a hostile or denied area by parachute assault — within 18 hours of notification.

To see a Defense Department photo essay on this training operation (and to see what happens to the Humvee) click here.

Don’t forget to click on the photo to see a larger image.