Gizmodo: humvee

Honeycomb Tires Take a Lick, Just Don't Actually Lick Them

Mark Wilson — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:15:00 EST

This 37-inch tire can take the explosion of an IED along with a few rounds of rife fire and still haul an armored Humvee out of a battle at 50mph. Completely airless and supported by a honeycomb-inspired series of hexagons, the tire's structure can distribute weight loads evenly while taunting the enemy that it doesn't even require a hubcap (unlike Michelin's Tweel). The tires are expected to teach the military by 2011 when they're promised to carry comparable costs to current models. [CNET]

US Army Selects Top Inventions That Can Take, Or Save, Your Life

Jack Loftus — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:00:00 EDT

IEDs, or Improvised Explosive Devices, are a sad fact of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, so you'll see the influence of these deadly weapons in this list of the US Army's top inventions for 2007. Every year the Army selects the top refinements, outright new inventions, or streamlined weaponry, and pumps out a list. This year's list features several new types of Humvee armor, GPS-guided artillery rounds, and a wheeled contraption for vehicles called SPARK (above), which sniffs out IEDs before they have a chance to do any damage.

Here is the XM982 Excalibur precision-guided artillery projectile. Soldiers are able to program map grid coordinates into an Excalibur round and use GPS to guide it to target with pinpoint accuracy.
The Objective Gunner Protection Kit (OGPK) is a motorized, rotating turret mounted on top of Humvees and MRAP vehicles. According to the Army it offers protection from IED fragmentation and small-arms fire, includes transparent armor, a sling for the gunner, and super handy rear-view mirrors.
The HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer (that's better known as "Humvee") is a mockup of a Hummer's cabin, and can be spun around to simulate an upended vehicle. Soldiers use this invention to practice disembarking from damaged or overturned vehicles before they're deployed. [CNET]

Awesome: Boeing Tests Humvee-Mounted Laser Avenger

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:30:31 EDT

Yeah, you read that right: A laser strapped to a Humvee. The Avenger is Boeing's air defense system typically loaded up with a heavy machine gun or Stinger missiles, but for a test a couple weeks ago, they mounted one of the systems on a Humvee equipped with a 1-kilowatt solid-state laser. During the test, it took out five targets "representing IED and UXO threats" and two UAVS that were "stationary on the ground." Okay, so that last part's not so impressive. But, one day it'll be able to shoot moving targets, probably! [Boeing via The Register]

Army Builds Foam and Woodchip Humvee

Mark Wilson — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:30:57 EDT

Next week, the US Army will begin testing a new Humvee that has a body and frame made completely from composite materials, Fiberglass, balsa wood, foam and carbon reinforcements. Conventionally, the Army has battled with how to protect Humvees from mines because ironically, adding more armor to the vehicles just weighs them down (and bring them closer to the mines).

The solution was to build a composite frame that makes the Humvee 900lbs lighter (or about 10%). Beyond the weight savings, the other advantage is that the Humvee is reinforced with different composite concoctions where the vehicle needs the most protection from mines (the rear).

Since mines are the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, such re-engineering should save lives if field testing goes well. [armytimes via gearfuse]

Defy Gravity with a...Humvee?

Travis Hudson — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 12:27:24 EST

Just when getting single-digit gas mileage wasn t enough, now you can make that Humvee defy gravity by scaling a wall. It uses "super power ground force suction" to clamp itself to the wall, giving kids a fun opportunity to ruin your new wallpaper and probably end up breaking the toy when it decides to fall eight feet to the floor. This will cost $80, for the first one at least. No telling how many replacements will have to be purchased.

Product Page [Via Red Ferret]