The U.S. Army isn’t expecting green street cred for their upcoming decision to potentially replace the aging Humvee with this diesel electric hybrid L-ATV. The decision to go green may be made out of necessity, in order to increase the range of these hard-running vehicles from Oshkosh Defense. The L-ATV, a top contender to replace the Humvee, takes the strong points of the Army’s classic errand runner and builds on them, while patching up weaknesses that became evident during the Iraq War, such as vulnerability to IEDs. As important as any defensive armor is the L-ATV’s extended range, which could get it out of many a tight situation.
The L-ATV won’t win awards for fuel economy, but it does prove a point that going green can be quite practical. In the future, when resources are stretched thinner among an exploding global population, it may even be necessary to national security. Oshkosh Defense has already supplied the Army with giant hybrid trucks in the past. Do you think we could be looking at a gradual switchover to hybrid vehicles in general in the armed forces?
+ Oshkosh Defense
+ U.S. Army
Via Dvice
