HUMMER And Its Military Future
HUMMERs first came to be during the 1980’s as a multipurpose troop and personnel transport used by the United States Army. General Motors bought the rights to produce a civilian model (Hummer 1 or H1) in the early 1990’s – since then the vehicle has been downgraded, in a sense, to be more civilized and family friendly. With the future of Hummer now up in the air some speculate the mighty H may go back to its military roots.
The Humvee or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle has been converted dozens of times for use in a variety of missions, landscapes and temperatures.
Not to mention all the various retrofitting done to carry everything from sensitive communication devices to machine gun turrets, missile launchers and other tactical equipment. As sales of civilian Hummers drop quarterly it may only be a short time before they are no longer sold on dealer lots. All this vehicle has left is the possibility of a purchase by some foreign power to use in the deserts and snow covered valleys of war torn territories.
But even the USA is thinking about replacing the Hummer as a staple of troop carries, just as Humvee did to the Jeep. The US Military Tactical Truck Systems program is currently testing prototype vehicles, including the International FTTS UV Concept.
Along with this Humvee-killer more “smart” military droves are being produced. Manless vehicles designed to be worked remotely via satellite, sent out to patrol demilitarized zones, go into battle and even search for lost or injured troops and civilians. Two such vehicles currently set for production include The Gladiator and the Andros Mark V0A-1 – which looks like Johnny Five on steroids.
So, it seems this may be all for Hummer, at least as an all purpose military action vehicle, or a pumped up family cruiser. Sure, fans of the truck will keep it alive via fan clubs and car shows, but unless GM’s H4 is a smash hit it looks like we’ve come to the end of (production) line.
h1 is the best no euro junk or rc toys can replace it