Going the Way of the Jeep

[W. Gray]

It looks as though the US government is getting ready to phase out its High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee) after buying about a quarter million since 1984.

2,600, or so, have been ordered for FY 2011 and these will be the last.

The current cost of a Humvee is $64,000.

It is going the way of the Jeep, which cost all of $648 when first introduced just prior to World War II.

A replacement candidate appears to be the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, new armored car which is under development.

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle used in Afghanistan costs about $500,000 to produce and will apparently continue to be manufactured.

Nothing could ever replace the Jeep--of course, I would not want to be in one when it hit a Taliban mine.

[Diane Amberg]

I wonder if Radar every got his built? I learned to drive in one and even knew what the word really meant.