I get a daily email from a think-tank in DC that is comprised of many different articles pertaining to government, politics and the military. I found the below article interesting as it opens up many possibilities on the modeling front with respect to kit mods. It reminds me of the armor mods added to Shermans in WWII. Maybe somebody has some more info these add-on armor mods.

Here's the article:

"ARMY ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES TELLING UNITS HOW TO 'HARDEN' VEHICLES

February 10, 2004 12:00am
Source: Inside Washington Publishers

Inside the Army via NewsEdge Corporation : As Army requirements for up-armored humvees climb to 7,000 and officials rush add-on armor kits to the field, the service has issued a new policy to units who might be tempted to outfit thin-skinned vehicles with their own steel-plated protection.

The policy outlines dimensions for steel plates and the levels of protection they provide, leaving the decision of whether to use "ad hoc" force protection up to the unit commander, said Army spokesman Maj. Gary Tallman.

The unclassified guidance is labeled "for official use only" and has not been released to the public, he said.

The service-wide guidance was issued shortly after the Army completed testing of armor plates donated by a local funeral home director to an Army Reserve unit. The 428th Transportation Company of Jefferson City, MO, was allowed to take the 13,000 pounds of steel to Iraq, but senior Army officials requested a sample of the armor be submitted for testing (Inside the Army, Jan. 5, p4).

Tallman said officials finished tests Jan. 9. The unit has been advised on the armor's capabilities, and the unit commander will determine whether it will be used, he said.

A 1997 field manual on Army motor transport outlines basic guidance on protecting vehicles from artillery, sniper fire and mines, noting an option to "harden vehicles." The guidance issued last week provides more specific guidelines, Tallman said.

Meanwhile, the need for up-armored humvees continues to grow, officials say. Initial requirements last summer suggested that 235 of the vehicles would be needed in Iraq. By late fall, the number topped 3,000. Officials said more and more soldiers were trading in their Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks for the more mobile humvees to patrol Iraqi streets, but still needed protection against improvised explosive devices and other threats (ITA, Oct. 27, 2003, p1).

The total requirement for the up-armored vehicles is approximately 7,000, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker told the House Armed Services Committee Jan. 28.

According to a senior Army budget official, the requirements "keep going up" because the Army has been asked to provide the protective vehicles to special operations forces, Air Force and Marine Corps units.

Accordingly, the service has shipped to Iraq almost its entire fleet of 600 up-armored humvees that were stationed in the Balkans. In addition, the service was given $73 million in the fiscal year 2003 supplemental bill and another $177 million in the FY-04 supplemental to buy more humvees.

Another $156 million to purchase 818 up-armored vehicles was included in the president's FY-05 budget request, submitted to Congress last week.

"One of the key things we tried to do [in the FY-05 budget request] is continue to get after the requirement to provide to our units and soldiers for force protection," the budget official said.

Although they do not provide as much protection as an up-armored humvee, add-on armor kits -- referred to as Armor Survivability Kits or Armor Protection Kits -- also are being rushed to the field. The Army has purchased 1,500 kits and 4,800 ballistic-protective windshields from O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Company in Fairfield, OH, and produced another 4,810 kits through the Army's Ground Systems Industrial Enterprise, according to the Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command.

An additional procurement of 2,100 kits is planned, TACOM states.

According to the Army budget official, the kits are being paid in part through a recent $129 million transfer from the Iraqi Freedom Fund, an open-ended account used by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to pay for unanticipated war costs. The Army also is requesting another $80 million be transferred to the Army from the IFF -- and that $107 million be reprogrammed from the FY-04 supplemental -- to buy the kits. "To the best of my knowledge," the official said, money for add-on armor kits is not included in the Army's FY-05 budget request.

While the kits are being sent to the field as soon as they are produced, Army officials warn they are not a panacea for security threats in Iraq.

"It does not provide you the same level of protection as an up-armored humvee rolling off the line," the budget official said. "And some of our non-up-armored humvees really aren't equipped to take on the added extra weight because they don't have the right engine and they don't have the right suspension.

"So we're trying to make sure that even the non-up-armored humvees that we buy are more capable of taking the add-on equipment," the official said.

Meanwhile, units are taking what they can get, in some cases turning to homegrown solutions to high-threat levels. Tallman said at least one other unit, in addition to the transportation company from Missouri, has opted to bring its own add-on armor to Iraq. -- Anne Plummer .end (paragraph)

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Animal has (I believe) helped with the "hardening" of cargo trucks for Comvoy escort. This seems to be a needed step anymore....

some of the things I hane seen (for Hmmwv's) are:

Yes they are doing more aggressive research in this area. The TM's are being rewritten as we speak and there is now talk of actually having the Convoy Security as a permennet aspect in all Trans Units. With it becoming a sort of MOS or add on speciality and personnel receiving advance training. We all hope that this doctrine will continue.

Hello
I can tell you from Iraq that the need for "hardening" is outgrowing the offical upgrade kits.
I have seen every version of upgrades. When we started, supplies were in short supply, therefore, most upgrades were generic. We started with sandbags and lumber. The sandbags are heavy and the sand would blind you when running down the road. Lumber was used also, but we had to save it for other projects. At the next stage units used junk armor: tailgates, deck plates, tables. Now we used sheet steel, sometimes crudely welded in every configuration possible.

We have guntrucks that have some crew-served weapons and then just troop carriers, command vehicle. Well all these vehicles are try to get upgrade kits. I have seen the newest kit, contains; doors, side armor and rear blast shield. It will not help with explosions under the vehicle. Another version is layers of kevlar and nylon that are set on the inside of the vehicle and sprayed with resin.
A great deal of travel is involved for units in Iraq and the enemy likes to use IED, snipers,etc. I don't think that was predicted before the war, crystal ball can only see so much.
The kits are arriving and lives are being saved.
Rich