How The U.S. Military Plans To Replace The Iconic Humvee On Future Frontlines

The U.S. military has a new ride.

Its old workhorse, the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle — more commonly known as the Humvee— is showing its age. The Humvee was originally designed to ferry troops around the battlefield in Europe against the Soviet Union. But during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Humvee was pushed to the sidelines in favor of vehicles that could better survive roadside bombs.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV, has now taken on the mantle of being the new frontline tactical vehicle favored by the U.S. military.

“The JLTV family of vehicles was designed to restore payload and performance capabilities that were traded from previous light tactical vehicles for added protection in recent conflicts — giving commanders an improved protected mobility solution and the first vehicle purpose-built for modern battlefield networks,” Michael Sprang, the program manager for the JLTV program at the U.S. Army, wrote in an email to CNBC.

The vehicle is manufactured by Oshkosh Defense.

“The JLTV combines the protection of the MRAP, which was so critical in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the agility of a Humvee,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., said in an interview with CNBC. “I’ve driven it. With the suspension system, you could be drinking a cup of coffee, going over massive bumps and not spill. It’s a critical modernization priority both for the Army and the Marine Corps.”

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How The U.S. Military Plans To Replace The Iconic Humvee On Future Frontlines

[usgator]

We invaded Iraq in HMMWVs with canvass doors. We’d lose 2-3 trucks a week from RPGs, IEDs, or heavy MG fire. We were constantly low on tires, with 2-3 trucks inop at any given point for lack of tires. We’d manage to “procure” (steal) tires from the apron at Al Asad Air Base, only to go out that night and have them get all shot up.

We used confiscated money to pay an Iraqi iron worker to fasten doors, floor panels, and ramming bumpers out of 1/4 steel and we did use sandbags as well. We tested the steel and an M4 round would penetrate it, but the AK wouldn’t because of bullet tumble. It was better than the canvass that offered us nothing. We got one up-armored HMMWV about a month before our year long tour was up.

[enceladus]

Step 1: Give your humvees to the Taliban
Step 2: Ask congress for money

[jangosavdjdubsak]

By leaving the older versions of the Humvees to the Taliban…

[donarrivas]

The humvees have been in the army museum already. They have been replaced by the GD made Cougar HH 4x4, which are now used on streets in Kandahar by the talibans.

[nelsondisalvatore]

There are gonna be a LOT of humvees for the cheap.

[akshayh]

It's funny how they talk about Iraq and Afghanistan when all they did was send a lot of money down the drain while Patriotic and heroic soldiers Laid thier lives for nothing

[mistersquirrel]

Just buy Toyota Hilux. They're indestructible, Top Gear proved it.

[whatabouttheearth]

"you can be drinking a cup of coffee going over massive bumps and not spill" 😂 apparently the congressman wasn't being driven by the Lance Corporal Underground or Specialist Mafia

[GUSCi-BDE]

Nobody:
A Toyota Landcruiser somewhere: that's cute

[cocobrez]

They should just contact Toyota, I swear every vehicle that I see in modern-day war is a Toyota!

[georgeday]

I rode in MRAP for my Afghanistan deployment. They felt heavy as fk, and it elicited confidence. We knew we would still get blown to hell by stolen ambulances laden with explosives (which seemed like every other day according to Intel), but we felt impervious to the every day Toyota Corolla. We once had a platoon take a vbid from a Corolla. Everyone walked away unharmed, minus the LT who got stabbed by a bystander while waiting for Quick Reaction Force. We used to drive the MRAP over concrete highway barriers to go against traffic to monitor threat level. I hope our current guys have the same capability out of the newer vehicles in the race to build a cheaper alternative.

[HKim]

Note: Osk Kosh is based out of WI and the US Rep is from WI.
Nothing wrong for stumping for your constituents, but there is a vested interest.

[TruckerJacket]

Osh Kosh defence, classic - I used to wear their denim overalls as a 4 year old

[bilalsyed]

Yes, it's high time to upgrade. Even the Taliban possess the Humvees now.

[willwarren]

My unit replaced all our Humvees with JLTVs. I drive them all the time and I can say they are very cool looking inside and outside and they are awesome but biggest problem I have with it is driving it. The steering wheel is very sticky and has like no power steering.

[AaronMichaelLong]

I have a great strategy for making much more effective IED protection for serving U.S. servicemen: Keep them at home. The truth is, there's no level of armor or armament that's going to protect a wheeled vehicle from an explosive boobytrap, and pretending that IEDs are an engineering problem instead of a political one is just another classic example of the obtuseness of policymakers, or at least the obtuseness of their PR. The truth is, no matter where you spend money trying to protect servicemen from harm, insurgents and terrorists are going to just look for the next weak link in your defensive posture. Instead, we should be building armed forces designed to protect our own territory, not occupy the territory of places we have no business trying to govern.

This strategic stupidity is costing American taxpayers trillions of dollars, as mission creep driven by stupid policy decisions turns what was once a $14, 000 utility vehicle (the original 1941 jeep, adjusted for inflation) into a $400, 000 boondoggle.

[hansschmitt]

I'm surprised that the Humvee lasted so long . I test drove it for the USMC back in the early 1980s and I was very disappointed with it's performance .

[timerod]

Now it makes sense why they left all the Humvees in Afghanistan for the Taliban😂

[JIMSCREECHIE]

I've been all over in these thing, they're overpriced, extremely loud and large. However as large as it is, there still isnt much room inside. Something seriously needs to be done about how contracts are awarded.

[chrischris]

Will it have more than one reverse gear? To be more in line with the current military strategy.