It's a bird! It's a Plane! No, it's the Humvee replacement?!?

[the Teuton]

Someone in the military please explain this one to me.  I love this beast and I have a friend who is working on them right now in SC.  What is it?
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February 2, 2007

PVI WINS MRAP TEST CONTRACT AWARD

North Charleston, SC - Protected Vehicles, Inc. announces receipt of an IDIQ contract award for the United States Marine Corps solicitation for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.  Garth Barrett, founder and CEO of PVI comments ?We are pleased that the United States Marine Corps has given us the opportunity to provide Marines and Soldiers with the best protected wheeled vehicle available.? The PVI MRAP integrates the best attributes of protection, mobility and lethality needed today and tomorrow. 

Key relationships including Rafael Armament Development Authority of Haifa, Israel and Battelle Memorial Institute of Ohio have allowed PVI to assemble a team with deep experience, large volume production capability, and a solid reputation for high quality performance.  Combined production rates will allow complete delivery of 4,100 vehicles faster than the Marine Corps? requested 20 month delivery schedule. 

Michael Sandusky, Executive Director for Programs, comments ?Our vehicles have superior capabilities and we are proud to be part of the industrial base that gives our Marines and Soldiers a new level of survivability and lethality in this era of asymmetric warfare.  Our MRAP vehicles incorporate an extended range of defensive capabilities, unmatched situational awareness and lethality.  The successful integration of these attributes result in a next generation mine resistant, ambush protected vehicle.?     

The first delivery order slates MRAP vehicles, Category I & II, to be tested at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in March.  The Israeli version of the MRAP is also in the midst of testing by the Israeli Defense Force. 

Established in late 2005, PVI retains more than 120 employees with plans to add another 400 over the next several months.  Over the past year Protected Vehicles, Inc. has made significant investments and improvements to their 350,000 square foot facility on the Old Naval Shipyard in Charleston and has secured options for more square footage in nearby facilities as demand grows. 

About Protected Vehicles Inc.

Protected Vehicles, Inc. designs and manufactures mine and ballistic protected vehicles using advanced U.S. technology; technology derived from Rhodesian and South African vehicle development programs carried out from 1970 through 1994; and U.S. DoD technology developments. Founded in 2005 by Garth Barrett, a pioneer in mine blast and ballistic protection since the early 1970's, PVI is headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina.  The Company has approximately 350,000 square feet of R&D and heavy metal fabrication space capable of cutting, bending, and manufacturing; thus enabling complete onsite fabrication of capsules and vehicle assemblies.

For more information reference www.protectedvehicles.com or contact Drew Felty, (843) 554-8080, ext 219.

http://www.protectedvehicles.com/

[the Teuton]

Bueller?

[Secret Chimp]

[TheIntrepid]

Bueller?

edit: damn beaten!

[the Teuton]

I'm really surprised no one has any interest in this beast.  I think once they convert it for civilian use, it will make for a great vehicle to drop the children off at soccer practice with.

[J86]

I'm really surprised no one has any interest in this beast.? I think once they convert it for civilian use, it will make for a great vehicle to drop the children off at soccer practice with.

It's cool alright, but I don't get any of those magazine anymore so I dont know shit about em!

[Soup DeVille]

Obviously a much better  vehicle for the role that the hastily up-armored M1114 is being forced into in Iraq, but there's still plenty of work for plain old Hummers to do that this hthing would be way overkill for.

[S204STi]

The Alpha looks like a more viable general purpose vehicle, but that Golan looks like it could be a good people/equipment mover.  Either way looks like they should be quite durable, and looks significantly tougher than the "hummer".  It looks like the priority of high-clearance go-anywhere ability is no longer at the top of the list, as these look like extremely heavy, solid axle rigs.

[Rupert]

Don't you mean, "It's a rock! It's a dinosaur! [...]"?

[SaltyDog]

The thought of anyone using that, or even a watered-down version as a family hauler/daily driver is hysterical.  It's also frightening and sad.

[the Teuton]

The thought of anyone using that, or even a watered-down version as a family hauler/daily driver is hysterical.? It's also frightening and sad.

It could happen...

[SaltyDog]

It could happen...

Oh, I know.

[the Teuton]

Funny story for another day, I actually got the smackdown laid upon me by the real Ben Stein last year.  It was funny but well worth it.

Back on subject, these look a little bigger than Humvees, which could be a good thing in terms of being built with armor, but it looks like there won't be any jungle-ready military vehicles with as big as they're getting.  Still, if they could price this competively against the Cayenne Turbo, I think it would be a great civilian vehicle. 

[etypeJohn]

It's cool alright, but I don't get any of those magazine anymore so I dont know shit about em!

What magazines?  Soccer Mom Quarterly?   

[93JC]

I still say the idea of replacing the Humvee with a giant APC-ish thing is stupid, because... guess what? They already make APCs for those purposes.

If anything I'd say the US military needs a smaller vehicle to complement the Humvee. Something faster and more manoeuvrable down Baghdad streets.

[Rich]

If anything I'd say the US military needs a smaller vehicle to complement the Humvee. Something faster and more manoeuvrable down Baghdad streets.

   

[etypeJohn]

If anything I'd say the US military needs a smaller vehicle to complement the Humvee. Something faster and more manoeuvrable down Baghdad streets.

yeah, but hat's just for Baghdad.  We need something for all conditions.  We won't be in Iraq forever.


Well,.................then again maybe we will.

[93JC]

? ?

Nah. I doubt any new military vehicles in the near future will have open tops. Not enough protection.

Something like a Mercedes-Benz G-wagen would be a good idea, I think. Humvees are fantastic, but they're suited to open warfare across bare terrain and such. Too big for close-quarters stuff like the urban warfare in Iraq. G-wagens are still quite big, but not near the same degree as Humvees.


Of paramount importance is to come up with something better than an extremely heavily armoured truck. They're too big and too slow, which is the Humvee's problem in Iraq. There's no point in building armoured trucks for your personnel: there are already armoured personnel vehicles in production anyway. A new one with four tires looking vaguely more like a civilian truck is not the answer.

[Tave]

Nothing is stopping them from slapping a roof on it.

[S204STi]

I think that the days of retrofitting civilian vehicles for combat uses are numbered, and purpose-built vehicles like the ones in that link are what we need to protect our troops.  I would not trust a Jeep against an IED.

[Tave]

I think that the days of retrofitting civilian vehicles for combat uses are numbered, and purpose-built vehicles like the ones in that link are what we need to protect our troops.? I would not trust a Jeep against an IED.

The Jeep was originally a military vehicle, though, right?

[etypeJohn]

The Jeep was originally a military vehicle, though, right?

Right, but it wan't designed to cope with what our troops are encountering in the 21st century.

[J86]

What magazines?? Soccer Mom Quarterly?? ?

Dad works for a major defense contractor, and he gets all these really cool trade magazines/newspapers about military hardware...but I don't live at home these days so I can't read 'em!

[93JC]

Right, but it wan't designed to cope with what our troops are encountering in the 21st century.

I don't mean to be rude, but I think that kind of thinking is the problem. The Jeep, the original Willys Jeep, is a great truck even today. The Humvee replaced it because the Humvee can do more things, which is good. The Humvee is awesome. It's probably the greatest vehicle of its kind ever made. Replacing it with a tank on wheels is not going to 'fix' the situation.

Instead of trying to build a bigger, more heavily armoured truck to protect troops from improvised bombs, the military should be trying to stop the 'IED's from being made in the first place.

[southdiver1]

Bueller?

It might replace the Decue and 1/2 but, because of the jobs that the hummer performes, I don't see this replacing it.
My main reason is because I am not seeing a flatbed "truck" version of this which is probably what 1/2 of the military hummers are today. They are then converted to comm rigs. ambulances, rocket platforms, ect.
Plus, the hummer is still a pretty fast vehicle (compared to most military vehicles) and can still manuver around a lot better then this thing will.

[the Teuton]

Here's what it says on the website:

The PVI-ALPHA, a Light Protected Vehicle (LPV), 4 x 4 for on/off road use and in the 8-12 Ton Class, the vehicle has 8 seat capacity and is designed principally for asymmetric warfare, specifically aimed at the Up-Armored HMMWV replacement market. The ALPHA is also designed to serve the needs of diplomatic, VIP and other security related agencies in high risk areas where vehicles, such as the up-armored Suburban, can no longer meet the threats present

[etypeJohn]

Instead of trying to build a bigger, more heavily armoured truck to protect troops from improvised bombs, the military should be trying to stop the 'IED's from being made in the first place.

Well I don''t disagree with that, but you are talking strategy, the HumVee, the Jeep and others are tactical weapons not strategic policy instruments.

[93JC]

Tactical weapons ARE strategic policy instruments...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: don't bother replacing the Humvee with something designed to survive roadside bomb explosions. Many companies already make them:

[etypeJohn]

Tactical weapons ARE strategic policy instruments...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: don't bother replacing the Humvee with something designed to survive roadside bomb explosions. Many companies already make them:

No, when you state it is better to eliminate the source of IED's thats a strategic move.  If you don't change strategy and you need more protection from IEDs you make a stronger vehicle, that's a tactical decision.

[93JC]

Whatever. We can argue about it ad infinitum, and I doubt either of us will change our minds. In my mind, all tactical decisions are strategic, and all strategic moves should be tactical.