Outta here.
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Up-armored Hummers are still the most common vehicles in front-line service with American forces. To date, however, soldiers have reported problems getting doors open or getting out of the vehicle after land mine blasts, or during accidents that involve water. Lives have been lost, and the problem has spawned ingenious solutions like 10th Mountain Division’s door-ripping “Rat Claw” that saved Lt. Col. Michael Infanti in Iraq.

BAE’s VEE Window is a simple technology that allows crews inside a HMMWV to remove the ballistic windshields in less than 5 seconds and escape during an emergency, such as a rollover or accident. A crew member who can move freely simply pulls out the locking pins, turns the 2 latches, and pushes the window out. Since the window is otherwise normal, the VEE Window meets current windows’ ballistic properties, and was approved for the M1114 HMMWV following a series of Army performance and safety tests at Aberdeen Test Center in the summer of 2007. An order was placed in August 2007, and now a second order has been added to equip American Hummers…

Contracts

VEE, inside
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April 29/08: BAE Systems announces a $25 million order for 2,354 Vehicle Emergency Escape (VEE) window kits and 2,000 spare window panels to the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), for use on up-armored M1151 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV).

The latest order is projected to start the pipeline of follow-on orders to fit the thousands of M1151 vehicles in combat. VEE windows will be delivered to the Army from June 2008 until the end of 2008.

Aug 29/07: BAE Systems announces a $12.5 million contract to provide 1,000 Vehicle Emergency Escape (VEE) Window kits, plus 2,000 spare VEE Window panels, to the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) for use on the up-armored M1114 HMMWV. The VEE Window kits will be delivered to Army personnel in November 2007, and will be installed by unit maintenance personnel in theater. BAE Systems release adds that they are exploring VEE Window applications for other tactical and armored vehicles, including M1151/1152 HMMWVs, the Army’s FMTV medium trucks, the U.S. Marine Corps’ MTVR medium trucks, and vehicles in the MRAP program (which includes BAE Systems’ RG-33s and Caiman vehicles).

Additional Readings

• BAE Systems – VEE Windows mini-site