October 26, 2005: Although the M1114, armored, version of the hummer gets a lot of publicity because of its popularity among troops in Iraq, the 5.5 ton vehicle has been around for some ten years. Originally intended for peacekeeping operations, it was successfully used in the Balkans during the 1990s. The M1114 was based on a earlier version, that had served in the 1991 campaign in Kuwait. The M1114 is basically an armored car, with a crew of four and a payload of one ton (plus two tons that can be towed.) A 190 horsepower engine gives it a top speed of 80 kilometers an hour and a max range (on one tank, on roads) of 480 kilometers. All the armored protection (against 7.62mm machine-guns and rifles, bombs, landmines and nearby bursting shells of up to 155mm) has more than doubled the cost of the M1114 ($140,000 compared to $65,000 for an unarmored model.) Next year, the 4th Infantry Division is going to Iraq with 900 new M1114s, all equipped with new communications gear (the FBCB2 system) that enables them to talk to computers and UAVs, as well as the usual voice comm. Troops in Iraq have, since 2003, been using "Blue Force Tracker," which is sort of "FBCB2 Lite." To use the full FBCB2 system requires some training, which is why FBCB2 is not just shipped to Iraq, but installed in vehicles of units headed for Iraq, so all the training can be done in the United States.

Out of about 1,500 hummers produced a month, 700 are M1114 types (and some variants). This is up from 550 a month last month, and will increase to 1,100 a month by next year. Overall hummer production may go as high as 3,000 a month, to replace all the vehicles that are worn out by a year of combat operations in Iraq or Afghanistan (and the extra strain of carrying bolt-on armor, or clambering over the mountains in Afghanistan.) Such wear and tear in a combat zone, even if no combat damage is involved, is normal. The troops ride the vehicles hard in these situations, and wear them out a lot faster than they would during peacetime operations.