3 ms·

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 withstandi

by sambeau 15y ago

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?

maeon3 15y ago
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.
- brianbreslin 15y ago
  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.
  - checker 15y ago
    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.
- rdl 15y ago
  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.
lucasjung 15y ago
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.
bradleyland 15y ago
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.

by sambeau 15y ago

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?

maeon3 15y ago

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.

brianbreslin 15y ago
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.
- checker 15y ago
  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.
rdl 15y ago
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.

lucasjung 15y ago

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.

bradleyland 15y ago

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.