Figuring out how to make US military ground vehicles more maneuverable and cheaper while maintaining armour is a big dilemma these days. And the military has been, specifically, looking to upgrade the HUMVEE for a while. Northrop Grumman wants to tackle some of those issues with a new HUMVEE chassis on show at AUSA.
“We believe that the HUMVEE, which as you know has had an enduring role with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps and many other international military forces, will again have a role for us for at least the next 25 years,” said Greg Schmidt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Northrop Grumman’s technical services sector. “But what’s happened to the Humvee is a natural reaction to the IEDs and roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. We basically had to, as you know, to greatly increase the armor, i.e. up-armor the HUMVEE , putting it on the original chassis as it was designed.
The idea is to lift the body of existing HUMVEEs off the current chassis and put it on a new one, complete with new power train, transmission, transfer case, the works, Schmidt said. The company is working with Meritor and Pratt & Miller on the project.
So far, new chassis has been tested on four upgraded HUMVEEs via a cooperative agreement with the US Army, although it has not yet sold the military on its plan. They have gotten its fuel efficiency up to 16mi per gallon and it can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 22 seconds, Schmidt said.
“We believe that the HUMVEE, which as you know has had an enduring role with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps and many other international military forces, will again have a role for us for at least the next 25 years,” said Greg Schmidt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Northrop Grumman’s technical services sector. “But what’s happened to the Humvee is a natural reaction to the IEDs and roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. We basically had to, as you know, to greatly increase the armor, i.e. up-armor the HUMVEE , putting it on the original chassis as it was designed.
The idea is to lift the body of existing HUMVEEs off the current chassis and put it on a new one, complete with new power train, transmission, transfer case, the works, Schmidt said. The company is working with Meritor and Pratt & Miller on the project.
So far, new chassis has been tested on four upgraded HUMVEEs via a cooperative agreement with the US Army, although it has not yet sold the military on its plan. They have gotten its fuel efficiency up to 16mi per gallon and it can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 22 seconds, Schmidt said.