$191.9M more to AM General for M1151 & M1152 Humvee Jeeps
The Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI has issued a trio of recent modifications under a firm-fixed-price contract (DAAE07-01-C-S001) to AM General LLC in South Bend, IN for M1151 and M1152 Humvee up-armored jeeps. The awards total $191.9 million ($75.8 million M1152 + $9 million M1152 2-man + $107.1 million M1151-P1). Work will be performed in South Bend, IN, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 17, 2000.
DID has been reporting substantial contracts for these vehicles since March 4, 2005. M1151s are Enhanced Armament Carriers, M1152s are Enhanced Troop/ Cargo/ Shelter Carriers, and M1152P1s are ambulances. They’re based on the same “A2” chassis as the M1114 up-armored Humvee and may be hard to tell apart, but there is an important difference…
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The big difference is that the M1151/M1152 have armor that can quickly be installed and uninstalled from the vehicle by the crew members – without lift, and with as few tools as possible. This allows for fast modifications in the field rather than at depot, simplifying logistics and transport. It also allows for fast removal in situations where the extra armor is not needed, as the weight of the armor severely lowers the Hummer‘s service life despite the structural strengthening given to up-armored models. These vehicles come in 2-man and 4-man versions. See more details in Army Magazine’s laconically-named July 2005 article: “M1151/ M1152 Humvees.”
The M1151 & M1152 HMMWV models were formally announced on October 20, 2004; and AMC reported first fielding of these vehicles in Iraq on March 20, 2006.
DID Analysis/ Op-Ed
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While these vehicles do feature some improvements to armor protection, there are limits to what can be accomplished with the existing HMMWV platform. While armor and proper gunshields can make such vehicles safer, the flat-bottom design of the HMMWV has a tendency to act as a “blast trap” when hit from below with IED land mines.
It is possible to armor HMMWVs in ways that improve their protection levels, but blast-deflecting “V-hull” vehicles like BAE’s RG-31 Nyala in service with the US 101st Airborne, certain USMC units, and with Canadian forces in Afghanistan; or Australia’s larger “Bushmaster” IMVs in service in Iraq and Afghanistan, will have better odds of survival. As the story associated with this RG-31 picture clearly illustrates.
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- = N.B. BAE OMC’s RG-31 Nyala is NOT the same as the USMC’s Cougar and related JERRV vehicles from Force Protection Industries. As this other USMC article notes, those vehicles are bigger, more like super-armored trucks than the smaller RG-31, which is about the same size as an M1114 HMMWV. We can’t put it any better than FPI, whose Cougar page reads, and we quote: “Drop your purse, it’s not a Hummer.” DID has also covered the truly awe-inspiring Buffalo IED removal vehicle, another FPI offering related to the Cougar.
