United States Military Vehicles

By Author: Rob Thomas
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Army vehicles are generally divided into six categories. The development of new technologies has resulted in faster more efficient vehicles. Currently work is being carried out to develop vehicles that can be used unmanned for very dangerous missions. The use of these vehicles are extremely important. They assist soldiers and other military personnel to carry out their daily functions and are instrumental in military campaigns as combat vehicles. The following represents examples of the kinds of army vehicles that are presently being utilized by the United States military.

The upgraded HMMWV is representative of the up to 20,000 lb GVW wheeled vehicles (10,000 lb max axle) and is used extensively by the Army. Many vehicles in this weight range are quite often derivatives of commercially available vehicles and have almost identical performance characteristics to those in the marketplace (120 MPH).

The STRYKER family of multi-mission wheeled vehicles and the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), are representative of vehicles in the up to 80,000 lb GVW weight class (axle loads to
15,000 ...
... lb, speeds will eventually reach the 100 MPH range). The present objective is to make these vehicles and their off-shoots faster and more agile, as new technologies are instituted. This category of vehicle is expected to make up a large percentage of the Army’s vehicle fleet.

The M1120 HEMTT is one of the standard Army forward resupply vehicles in the up to 140,000 lb GVW weight class. The HEMTT is 66,000 lb GVW; it also has the option of being attached to a trailer which adds just under 37,000 lb of additional weight. Max. axle loadings are 20,000 lb which are within the present design parameters for Federal highways, as a result, these trucks are road legal throughout the United States.

The M916 M2/M3 Line Haul Tractor is another class of army vehicle which when used with a fully loaded trailer has a gross vehicle weight of about 130,000 lb. However, axle loadings remain within or very near the 25,000 lb general upper limit for over the highway travel as result the M915/M916 family of heavy line haul trucks are legal for use on Federal highways. These vehicles are essentially military by-products of commercially available line haul tractors. These, or equivalent, vehicles will likely remain as the Army’s standard over the highway resupply vehicles for many decades to come. These vehicles are presently the most speed capable of the heavy trucks (90 MPH), when fully loaded they have the highest axle loads, and have the largest percent of paved road vs. unpaved road use.

The Army’s Heavy Equipment Transporter or HET with tank payload is another class of military vehicle. This class of vehicle (GVW >140,000 lbs) is not one that would be tested on the high-speed track, but would instead use the upgraded Dynamometer Course along with tracked vehicles.
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