No more GI Joe trucks: Army swaps iconic Humvee for a faster, cheaper vehicle

[Jilly_in_VA]

The Army is swapping an icon – the 40-year-old Humvee – for a lighter, faster, cheaper truck designed for future battlefields.

The Infantry Squad Vehicle, more dune buggy than armored truck, is one of the most visible signs of the Army’s transition from Cold War-era equipment that has defined it for generations. The grinding insurgencies that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union demanded more and more armor to protect troops from roadside bombs.

In their place: a range of vehicles and drones that can be fielded quickly, and, in many cases, with commercial, off-the-shelf technology.

"The Humvee is the quintessential G.I. Joe vehicle," said Alex Miller, the chief technical adviser to Army leadership for transforming its equipment. "It is the quintessential Army vehicle we've had in the inventory since 1985. So, 40 years of Humvee. It was good for what it was built for, which was high mobility at the time. It is not good for the fight we think we're going to be in."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/02/armys-replacement-for-humvee-infantry-squad-vehicle/85421688007/

I suppose now we'll see cops in Humvees?

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Sitting ducks for the occupants.

Pure gold for the supplier.

[lapfog_1]

2. oh good

a $154K vehicle for the $10k drones (AI so no jamming) to target... a soft target full of soldiers.

[Redleg]

3. I assumed that Jeeps were the quintesstial GI Joe vehicle

I was in army units during the transition to humvees and I was in a unit that still had jeeps and then my next unit had humvees. I expect there a more than a few veterans at DU who remember the Jeep, whether fondly or not. At least it was light enough so that four people could turn it rightside-up after running into a ditch.

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. My mechanic son didn't remember the Humvee any too fondly

He often commented that it was a b^tch to work on.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Did Pentagon planners watch too many episodes of "The Rat Patrol" ? Or maybe just enough ?? nt

[Aristus]

9. I grew up on Army posts in the 1970's. And I remember the little Jeeps zipping here, there, and everywhere.

As an eager reader of World War II history even back then, it was good to see the Army hold on to the things that work. By the time I joined the Army myself in 1986, the Jeep was gone, and the bloated, steroidal fiberglass Hum-vee (we always just called it the Hummer) was now the main utility vehicle. I hated it. It was very difficult to maneuver around the narrow streets of small German villages. It had an impossibly broad turn radius, and it seemed to break down a lot. Plus, before the relentless series of Gulf Wars, to the first of which I was deployed (in a tank, thanks goodness, not a Hum-vee) they didn't really have any armor to speak of.

I think the Armed Forces would be best served by bringing back the Jeep. Modern automotive technology sheathed in a nostalgic metal skin.

[CoopersDad]

14. Possibly what you remember were the M151 series

Later than the Ford and Willys General Purpose "Jeeps" and before the HUMVEE was the M151

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M151_%C2%BC-ton_4%C3%974_utility_truck

[Ping Tung]

5. "War is a racket" said the general. Follow the money.

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. Bring back the Jeep?

It had it's flaws, but did the job.

[ultralite001]

8. About damn time...

TIA

[mitch96]

10. I wonder how much of this little jewel has foreign parts? and And AND will tfg tariff the crap out of it...

I just hope it has mostly off the shelf parts and make it easy to service.. On second thought this is for the US military...They will screw it up somehow...Is it gas? diesel? hybrid? electric. Solar?
m

[sl8]

18. A couple of "Made in America" ratings for the Chevy Colorado pickup truck:

The article says it's based on the Chevy Colorado pickup truck:

Thousands of pounds lighter and $80,000 cheaper than the Humvee, the Infantry Squad Vehicle is based on the Chevrolet Colorado truck built in Missouri. It’s basically the same truck that consumers can buy at a local dealership. Only about 20% of the Infantry Squad Vehicle’s components, including communication and electronic gear, are unique to the Army.

That’s a key difference compared to trucks such as Humvees and JLTVs, which were custom-built for the military.

“You can repair it anywhere on earth as long as you have access to commercial parts rather than a special military vehicle with special military parts,” said Miller, the Army’s top technical adviser.

The Chevy Colorado is listed at #4 on the 2024 Made in America Auto Index from Kogod School of Business:
https://kogod.american.edu/autoindex/2024

It's #19 on the Cars.com American Made Index:
https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/

[TnDem]

11. Already do

Police departments get humvees directly through the military in a surplus claim program all the time...They also get helicopters, M4 carbines and most everything else. There was some police department a few years ago that were given a bunch of M16A2 bayonets and had to return them because of public outcry.

[Dulcinea]

12. No doors?

I'm no military expert, but the lack of doors seems to subtract a layer of protection.

[angrychair]

13. So something completely useless

That nobody asked for or needed but I'm sure Mango Mussolini or his buddies will make a huge profit and American military will die by the thousands in some cheap piece of shit that will get stuck in a quarter inch of mud.

[OldBaldy1701E]

17. But, they will make money off of it. Isn't that what is the most important?

[The Third Doctor]

15. It doesn't have doors or a roof? I hope

It can be modified. No hope hope putting a air conditioner in it either.

[OldBaldy1701E]

16. Funny.

I had G.I. Joes when I was a kid (real ones, not those little figures that came out with in the 80s), and I do not recall a 'humvee' in any of the play sets.

Weird.

[hatrack]

19. Well, at least they're not dumping Cybertrucks on the military . .

At least not yet.