Re: Local UPARMORING - Rhodesia/South Africa did it, why can't we?

From: RT (notr.thomas_at_cqu.edu.au)
Date: 12/27/04 

To: sci-military-moderated@moderators.isc.org
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 00:12:14 +1000

"Howard Berkowitz" <hcb@gettcomm.com> wrote in message
news:hcb-AFA228.20401625122004@news-central.giganews.com...
> In article <41CCE439.5773F551@yahoo.com>, Abrigon Gusiq
> <abrigon@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Been looking at how the Rhodesians and others have done armoring and
>> designing and modifying things to better deal with IED/Mines and RPGs..
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> http://www.specwarnet.com/world/SelousScouts.html
>> http://www.africancrisis.org/photos6.asp Good site for local
>> manufacturing of armor.
>>
>> One thing they did was to take a VW Bug and modify it.. With SLOPED
>> bottom armor.
>
> A VW Bug probably lends itself to moderate up-armoring because it
> doesn't have extremely high road clearance. One of the problems of
> improvised top and side armor is that it raises the center of gravity,
> which, in a SUV or Humvee, is already high. I drive a Jeep Cherokee, and
> I can feel decreased stability if I have even a moderate load on the
> roof rack, such as a few sheets of plywood. The suspension needs to be
> able to cope with the changed center of gravity.
>>
>> http://members.tripod.com/~Rhodesian/pix2.html
>>
>> Is there any old dead Iraqi tanks?
>>
>> Also, any dead M113s and like vehicles, is the bed of the 5 ton the same
>> as the one in Vietnam? From reports, the M113 hull with out road wheels,
>> fit NICEly in the bed of a 5 ton, making a good Convoy support vehicle.
>
> I'd imagine that puts the increased weight in a place where the
> suspension is designed to handle it.
>
> There's also the question of what effect the added load will have on the
> cooling system. When the windows are covered, air conditioning may
> become a necessity, not a luxury. The former Rhodesia is not exactly
> cold country, but it doesn't have desert temperatures.
>
> This is not to say that improvised armor doesn't have a role, but it can
> also cause additional problems.

Datum point.
Humvees were bought for perimeter patrols at civilian prisons in Qld, Oz..
Found to be maintenance intensive and unreliable. Have now been abandoned

Datum point.
So far we (Oz) have had a total of 1 serious injury from mine, suicide bomb
and other attacks on our ASLAVs in Iraq - no deaths.

Conclusion.
You Yanks should give the Humvees to the Iraqiis to use for shopping, taxis,
recreational buggies and beach excursions and get yourselves some decent
vehicles.

Quantcast