Military

M1145 HMMWV Up-Armored

The M1145 Up-Armored HMMWV was designed to protect the US Air Force Forward Air Controllers to enable support and coordination for air attack operations with integrated communication equipment. These vehicles provided personnel and sensitive communications equipment with upgraded protection from mine blast effects, small arms fire, and air-burst munitions.

The system was deployed in multiple locations around the world and was built on the M1113 Expanded Capacity HMMWV.

As of 2005, Air National Guard TACPs were receiving new M1097 HMMWVs to replace their existing 66 vehicle fleet, all of which were replacement eligible. Combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan had revealed the force protection shortcomings of the M1097. Battalion level TACPs suggested that they too required the M1145 Up-Armored HMMWV to provide adequate protection for personnel and equipment when moving forward to positions from which to control Close Air Support missions. As of February 2005, the M1145 cost $173,000 each, approximately $100,000 more than the programmed M1097 replacements. An additional $11.4M was requested in the FY06 defense budget to provide ANG TACPs with the M1145. A report, titled National Guard and Reserve Equipment for Fiscal Year 2006, prepared by the Department of Defense suggested that anything less exposed ANG personnel to unnecessary risk to themselves and the Army personnel they were deployed to support. It also subjected ANG TACPs to the risks of irrelevancy where they might have been non-deployable because of the lethality of the modern battlefield.