I'd like to know what that thing wieghs??

I think the dark spots are reflections of what ever is sitting next to it. My guess would be it is like said above a blackwater type vehicle.

 

yes its armored. The LED in the side mirrors are (I believe) infrared markers or blackout lights for driving at night with nightvision goggles. We used to escort some of these guys around who worked for Dyncorp. (I came home last month.)This truck was in Kabul when I took the photo. I might have another pic on my other harddrive, I'll try to find it and post it up.

 

I think it was an episode of Extreme 4x4, in which they showed a S.O.R.P. (Special Off Road Package) superduty. Then they took a regular superduty and added the required components to make it a S.O.R.P. truck.

 

yet another case of your tax dollars at work. that damn thing probably cost about as much as an 1114 or 1151 does, and i'll still take the armored HMMWV any day before a ford pickup in the mideast. yeah, the ford looks a lot cooler but doesn't withstand an EFP blast very well...

blackwater F350 6.0 power stroke

dug out 2 dead guys, one burnt to a crisp, another seriously injured.

base model 1114 (w/o the Frag kit or new doors)

two injured, one due to concussion, the other took pretty severe shrapnel wounds to the leg...

both hit with EFPs a few months apart... i know which one I'D rather be in...

and yes, they do have "armor" on them, about the same as our 1025's did: enough to stop 7.62x39 from an AK but nothing more...

 

I do like the front bumper.

 

hmmm - I beleive they are intended for two different applications. Of course, anything can be caught in the cross fire for which it wasn't intended...not a real fair comparison ya think?

 

+1 to rather being in an uparmored humvee rather than the truck. But the Dyncorp guys recognized they do have weaknesses, so they requested us to escort them whenever possible.
My squad got hit by a VBIED last fall while in their 1151 with Frag 5 armor - the car was about 10' away when he detonated. No injuries at all! I respected the armor a lot more after that hit. The blast is what ripped the suspension off, not an impact with anything. But there is even a new upgrade for the suspension in country now too.

 

actually they are doing the SAME thing in many areas that i did. and getting paid 200 to 250K a year to do it (i made a helluva lot less than that).

none of them were based by us as we were in BFE, but they came though ALL the time running convoys. some brits & s. africans were escorting trucks loaded with rock with nothing more than 3 toyota hiluxes, did see an M240B (same gun i was issued for turret duty) sitting in the back seat of one, too.

hardly ever saw civilians running with military - they generally care to play by themselves, or with some iraqis since they don't have an ROE like the military does... the pic above was a short convoy of 4 or 5 of those one tons. got hit with a single EFP and not an entire array of 5 to 12 like usual. there was another a ways down that didn't det for EOD to play with.

 

Sheesh - I belive I made a comment like "Of course, anything can be caught in the cross fire for which it wasn't intended"

People put things to use that weren't intended to be used for a certian mission or they get caught in the same.

The Humvee is usually equipped and designed to go to 'war'
The beefed up F-whatever is meant for 'security'

So - yeah - who wouldn't want to be in the Humvee in heavier blast situations over a Super Duty.

Again - the comparison ain't real fair...

 

Maybe we should pull all the trucks and folks out and see how they stand up to one of our "blasts", a couple hundred megaton eggs would "brighten up" the day for them..... Then go back and everything's a nice slab of glass......... then slant drill to get the oil without having to go into the hot zone.

 

true, the comparison really isn't fair, but what gets my goat is the fact the fact that the US GOV'T is buying these fords and surburbans that contractors drive and paying just about as much for them as they're paying for our armor (if not more, depending on how they acquire them).
i averaged the no of vehicles with the price of one of uncle sam's contracts for 1151's and it came out right at $70k/vehicle.

and HMMWV's weren't actually designed for what we're doing with them right now. they were designed to be a solid, off road capable personnel carrier, NOT an armored vehicle to run 60 or 70 down the highway escorting convoys.

 

I totally understand where you're coming from.

 

More then likely they are for security. The IR leds are in a different type lens and mounting system, well most that I have seen. And if you look at them they are mounted at an angle facing out. If they were designed to be used for driving they would be useless because they are facing out not front.

 

wrong - having lights facing OUT has saved a few more asses than you might think. seeing that odd looking shape in the ditch can trip the mind's trigger and say "oh sh-t, that doesn't belong there". stop or swerve, however you do it, get out of the way, IED doesn't hit ya. every extra bit of light that's on the road, especially the ditches, help!

 

wow, nice truck...