What a brilliant piece of non-obvious design. Who would have thought that putting a huge hole through the middle of a vehicle would make it better at withstanding a bomb blast?
It reminds me of the hydrogen lab I saw at a university once (my alma mater did not have one): it was a single-room structure made of reinforced concrete, about three stories tall, adjacent to the main chemistry building. The roof consisted of very lightweight panels (not sure how they kept it leak-proof from rain and snow). The idea was that if you were in there conducting experiments with hydrogen and blew yourself up, you wouldn't take the rest of the chemistry department with you: the explosion would go straight up, blow out the ceiling, and create a huge roman candle. There were also serious ventilation systems to help prevent an explosion in the first place, but just in case the whole thing was a giant chimney.
Can't say I've thought of it before now, but it makes perfect sense.
My parents' home is a turn of the century bungalow in South Florida, and has survived every hurricane since with zero structural damage (there is no evidence of repair). To make that feat even more interesting, their house is located on a corner lot at an intersection of a split roadway, with a central canal, that results in about 85 yards of open ground to the east, which is the worst imaginable configuration for hurricane winds on the north side of an Atlantic storm (the worst winds).
So, what's so special about their house? It's elevated about 18" off the ground. Around the perimeter of the home (which is almost a perfect square, there is lattice work covering the openings at the base of the structure. After the first hurricane of the 2004 season, we noticed that the lattice work on the east-facing side of the house had all been ripped from it's (screwed, not nailed) mounts and pushed 10-15 feet back under the house where it laid down and allowed the air to pass through.
I stayed at the house with my parents during all the storms of the 2004 season (three total), and what I experienced was remarkable. Rather than stand bluntly against the winds, the house allowed the pressure to "breath" through it. That's how it had survived all these years. Well, that and it's made of heart pine and lumber that was cut prior to the advent of "dimensional lumber" :)
This design modification of this HUMVEE works on a similar principle. Got a pressure wave problem? Don't try to stop it, just give it somewhere to go. That's the great thing about air pressure, it seeks the path of least resistance.
So now we have to deal with maimed soldiers coming home instead of killed ones? That's not the kind of kickass solution I expect from the most powerful military on the planet on the subject of "light vehicles getting blowed up by people putting bombs under the roads".
Require a senator to travel in one of those vehicles in the war zone and the "Put a huge hole in the top" idea wouldn't go over so well. It would be replaced by a pontificating senator analyzing why we are waging war like retards.
I've seen people walk out of utterly destroyed mrap vehicles, so if this vehicle is as protected, odds are good that especially in afghanistan, where the ieds tend tobe smaller, it will mean lots of work for mechanics and replacing trucks, not a lot more serious injuries.
To the extent we are fighting the war like retards, it is the concept of using huge armored trucks when dismounted patrols are more effective. And rotating units in 4, 7, or 12 months, just as they become effective, and picking corrupt and ineffective local allies and having inconsistent and irrational goals in the first place.
Senators are probably on helicopters or in armored SUVs around Kabul mre than in military tactical vehicles. The average level IV suv will get even more trashed than an up armored hmmwv in ied attacks, but Kabul was safe enough we just took local cars, so not a big deal.
well i think those soldiers would appreciate the opportunity to have a slightly better chance of surviving, even if they end up injured. i'd rather be hurt and living than dead.
I don't know if your statement applies to all soldiers universally. Or even to all injuries. I think it depends on the person and what happened to them.
If the blast is right under the vehicle, I can see how this could work... but if it's on one of the corners, say the right front tire, wouldn't the entire vehicle get flipped or thrown violently?
That is what the v hull is for; it directs the blast outward. You would lose the tire, wheel, and possibly axle, and could get a mobility kill on the vehicle, but they train for that and go with multiple trucks (more if it is more dangerous; there were places with a six truck night minimum, which was scary for me in a single unarmored 1990s BMW sedan with a 9mm...). Other vehicles radio in, cover the downed truck, may ram/push it out of the way, or tow, or crossload. The big concerns are secondary ieds, triggered after the response begins (so people out of the vehicles), or a ground assault (uncommon, and rarely effective. One truck with a .50 up top can basically hold its own.)
Traumatic Brain Injury, concussion, etc from overpressure or being thrown around is possible, but everyone is wearing armor and helmets, and there is a lot of mass in the vehicle, so if you can get rid of most of the energy of an ied, and keep people from being pierced by anything, it is probably enough. The big risk in ieds is massive bleeding; enough that military first aid prioritizes bleeding control ("massive hemorrhage" in MARCH vs. ABC); usually this is from a limb being blown off, since the torso is well armored).
Oh, they're pretty cramped. (As a Marine, I can tell you Generation Kill was pretty good.)
Actually, I would be more concerned about a tendency to rollover just by looking at it. When the armored ones first came out there were a bunch of accidents because they were so much heavier at the top that they tended to rollover more often.
We all had to take an off road class to drive them. :-)
Do you mind elaborating? I've ridden in the civilian Hummer, and the passengers in the back seat were so far apart they could barely touch each other if they stuck out their arms. What makes it cramped? Equipment?
Yeah, mostly stuff you wear. They're nice and comfy if you don't happen to be wearing body armor, your weapon, a pack, food for a day, camelback, etc.
Every time a door opens you see Marines and all the gear that was stuffed in there pour out. The hmmwv is spacious, but Marines typically wear at least their body weight in gear. Nothing is ever really comfortable except lying on your back or standing...
There is also the guy standing in the middle of the 4 seats, plus all the ammo boxes, brass, radios, blue force tracker (2 way gps; shows position of friendly units on a map), etc. Rarely found on the civilian h1.
I did like how body armor and Kevlar made it easier to sleep on rough surfaces (gravel, vehicles, benches, concrete walls, ...)
Rollovers were actually the number two cause of death when I was in Iraq in 2009. I've never seen an MRAP rollover, but we were always a bit edgy about it happening.
As an hummvee gunner in Iraq in 2009, we had a manual device to drop the gunner if something happened. The device was indeed used in a humorous fashion a few times. I wonder how it would be done fast enough when performed automatically to be effective.
As far as cramped goes, space is definitely at a premium, especially leg room, once you get all your gear on (and imo riding in one of those things without gear wasn't all that comfortable).
