Humvee Armor

Privacy policy Closeup of humvee and it's armor. (or lack there of)

Humvee armor is designed to improve the standard military Humvees and protect those traveling inside. The military Humvee is an unarmored vehicle since it was never intended for combat. In the wars of today, the line between combat areas and non-combat zones is however growing more and more blurry each year and Humvee drivers frequently find themselves in situations where they are attacked and risk severe injury or even death since their Humvee will not provide sufficient protection.

The Humvee is defenseless against just about any type of weapon. While modern main battle tanks are more or less immune to hand-held unguided anti-tank weapons, the military Humvee offers very little protection. A modern AK-47 (AKM) or RPG (handheld anti-tank grenade-launcher, from the Russian name "Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot") is enough to penetrate a military Humvee and injury or kill those inside. If you wish to attack a modern main battle tank with such weapons, you have to hit one of very few vulnerable spots and aiming is therefore very difficult. If you attack a Humvee on the other hand, you simply have to hit the vehicle somewhere since most parts of the Humvee are easily penetrated. Humvees are also quite defenseless against land mines and other roadside bombs.

To defend themselves, U.S. soldiers driving Humvees started to create their own makeshift Humvee armor from whatever they could find. Ballistic blankets, ballistic glass and commonly available off-the-shelf items were used to craft ad hoc Humvee armor and hopefully decrease the risk of injury and death. There is however several problems associated with this type of improvised Humvee armor. First and foremost, it is naturally cruel to send out soldiers in unprotected Humvees and force them to create their own do-it-yourself Humvee armor from whatever they can get their hands on. Much better Humvee armor can of course be made under better circumstances; where engineers, suitable materiel, ballistic testing etc is ready available. Secondly, improvised Humvee armor tends to drastically increase the weight of the Humvee. It can also alter the balance and make the Humvee more prone to flip over when driving in rough terrain, or when trying to steer clear of an attack. This can obviously be disastrous in many situations. When Humvee armor is created under better circumstances, more time and effort can be spent on finding light-weight solutions.

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It is also possible to perform extensive testing to make sure that the Humvee armor will not make the vehicle more prone to tilting. Thirdly, and perhaps most seriously, a makeshift Humvee armor that has never been properly tested can increase, not decrease, the risk of injury and death in certain situations. This Humvee armor itself can for instance shutter when exposed to gunfire and cause shrapnel damage.

Fortunately, it is today possible to obtain ready-made Humvee armor kits that can be used on most Humvee models and variants. Humvee armor kits are good when it comes to protecting the vehicle against lateral attacks, but still offers a comparatively low degree of protection from blasts under the Humvee. Special kits will also be needed if you wish to protect a soldier that is handling a weapon on top of the Humvee. Slaving machine guns to controls placed in the back seat of the Humvee is another solution to this problem, since it makes it possible for soldiers to remote control the guns in perilous situations.