350 more M1114 Up-Armored Hummers On The Way

On Patrol in Iraq Armor Holdings subsidiary O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Co. in Fairfield, OH received a $21 million firm-fixed-price contract to purchase 350 of the M1114 up-armored High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV). Work will be performed at the company’s Fairfield facilities and is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2005. The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Rock Island at Warren, MI issued the contract (DAAE07-00-C-S019). The up-armored M1114 model were originally only going to be built in small numbers (a few hundred) for military police. Now over 4,000 of these armored Hummers are being built for use in Iraq and Afghanistan, and military police are shifting toward better protected vehicles like the M1117 Guardian ASV. Some observers have criticized the M1114 for lacking a full gun shield like the USAF’s M1116 HMMWV, to protect the machine-gunner and reduce avoidable casualties (see pictures). Others have noted that its flat bottom does a poor job at dissipating or deflecting the explosive effects of mines. For all this, it remains the most frequently used patrol and escort vehicle in the war.