Oshkosh 4x4

Doug, if you have a look at the bottom of the vehicle, you will see it is shaped to deflect mine blasts away, works for the water too....................

Hi Doug,
Exactly as John says, the Vee hull is to deflect the blast from an IED!

I've a mate who wears green suits supplied by the gubbamint as a way of earning a quid. He's also been known to wander around the sand fields and rocky ridges of a far off land.

He tells me one of the major failings of the old HUMVEE is its dead flat floor pan, an IED blast just comes straight on through apparently. The Yanks played with ceramic armour for the pan of HUMVEE's with varying degree's of success.

The weight of the ceramic on the base vehicle was apparently unacceptable, hence the need for a replacement.

As a side detail, apparently the Yank grunts are somewhat envious of our 6x6 Perenti Land Rovers let alone the Bushmaster! According to my mate a 6x6 Perenti is actually more survivable in an IED blast than a standard HUMVEE! Surprised me!

Remember though that a humvee was never designed for the use they currently get, it was designed back in the early 80's and IED had never been thought of.
It was originally designed to carry a load across country, something it does very well. In the armoured versions withstand small arms and shrapnel damage not IED's bombs or heavy armour at close quarters.
Our Bushmasters have been designed to deflect blasts as has the Oshkosh above with their boat shaped hull. They are also fully armoured to protect occupants.

Exactly what Peter said, the venerable Humvee is apparently copping a lot of flack for failing at something that was never in its design brief!

No accounting for people with a loose relationship to the facts I guess!

Bushmaster and Oshkosh are an entirely different beast to the Humvee.

A simple comparison such as the totally disparate tyre sizes should hint at each vehicles overall weight and intended purpose!

I wonder if those 46 inch Michelins would fit the Disco?

Got a big hammer?