underdog said:
The way i understood it the HMMWV's where put into service to replace the CUCV.
Which made/makes them a support vehicle not a front line vehicle.
Only thing i can figure is it looks better to the natives to see our troops in a truck, rather than in a proper combat recon vehicle.
HMMWV was created to replace the M151 and various armed Jeeps still in service for front line and near front line use. They were too small for a lot of roles they were doing while deuce and a halfs were too big for other roles and meanwhile they had a menagerie of vehicles to maintain and keep supplies for. The CUCV replaced those.
The CUCV came on as a program to supplement the HMMWV in non-combat roles and do the jobs a HMMWV was not required for. A M880, M1008, or M1009 is a lot cheaper than a HMMWV so put the wear in tear on it running around base or pulling a small trailer in a convoy instead of a HMMWV that can be up front with the troops.
