# Humvee gunner question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948 "2026-06-16T20:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/1 "2026-06-16T20:09:14Z")
I’m watching the first Iron Man and noticed the gunner in the Humvee is sticking up into the air waist deep. He has a Ma Deuce, not a Gatling gun. Looks like a sitting duck. It would seem a ring of armor could wrap around and at least provide rear and side protection. I guess there might be better protected versions and this one was chosen for the film. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/2 "2026-06-16T23:23:38Z")
Was the Humvee itself armored? Because a foot or two of armor won’t help you much if the only thing protecting your lower torso and legs is sheet metal and glass. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/3 "2026-06-17T04:28:35Z")
They do make several up armored variants, including ones with a shield all around: [Continuous Army innovation yields improved gunner protection | Article | The United States Army](https://www.army.mil/article/50173/continuous_army_innovation_yields_improved_gunner_protection) And some variants replace the gunner with a remote controlled turret: [https://ndia.dtic.mil/wp-content/uploads/2010/armament/ThursdayReunionJosephScheneck.pdf](https://ndia.dtic.mil/wp-content/uploads/2010/armament/ThursdayReunionJosephScheneck.pdf) I don’t know how common those are though. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/4 "2026-06-17T06:20:01Z")
PS see also the successor and partial replacement, [Joint Light Tactical Vehicle - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Light_Tactical_Vehicle) ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/5 "2026-06-17T11:53:52Z")
I don’t know when that scene was supposed to take place, but Iron Man came out in 2008. Remember that the US was rather unprepared for a prolonged insurgency (Mission Accomplished) and US troops were up-armoring Humvees with anything they could scrounge, because they _were_ sitting ducks in them. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/6 "2026-06-17T12:26:52Z")
Sticking all kinds of add ons on top of them was the wrong answer really; the Humvee was a battlefield taxi not an armoured car and attempts to turn it into one just overstrained the power train and suspension. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/7 "2026-06-17T12:35:09Z")
The military classifies the Humvee as a “light skinned vehicle” so, by nature, it isn’t going to have that kind of protection. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/8 "2026-06-17T13:11:38Z")
The HMMWV was intended to be a Jeep, not an armored car. Closer to this [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Covered_Willy%27s_jeep_Wings_Over_Wine_Country_2007.JPG/1280px-Covered_Willy%27s_jeep_Wings_Over_Wine_Country_2007.JPG) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Covered_Willy%27s_jeep_Wings_Over_Wine_Country_2007.JPG/1280px-Covered_Willy%27s_jeep_Wings_Over_Wine_Country_2007.JPG) than this [![](https://www.joint-forces.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/00-TRNC5141.jpg) ](https://www.joint-forces.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/00-TRNC5141.jpg) (Turkish Otokar Akrep armored scout car) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/9 "2026-06-17T16:32:52Z")
A friend of mine has a British Ferret recon vehicle. I love that thing! I recently reminded him he does not a son to inherit it, cough, cough. His has actually been in a movie and I tracked down a video of the obscure film. [https://hymanltd.com/vehicles/5509-1958-daimler-ferret-tank/](https://hymanltd.com/vehicles/5509-1958-daimler-ferret-tank/) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/10 "2026-06-17T21:54:02Z")
Here’s the scene in question: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/O-3Wr_-5ISQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Tony Stark's convoy gets attacked by terrorists | Robert Downey Jr. | Iron Man (2008) #Avengers") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-3Wr_-5ISQ) Those are unarmored HMMWVs. A strip of armor would have made little difference. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/11 "2026-06-17T22:28:54Z")
Reading this thread brings to mind the book/series Generation Kill. The Marines of the recon battalion were given Humvees that they had to repair and upgrade themselves. As it turned out the vehicles served them well, Lt. Fick’s platoon made it to Baghdad without any soldiers being killed in action. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/12 "2026-06-17T22:46:10Z")
Note that the US army fitted .50 cal machineguns to jeeps and even deuce and a half trucks- totally unarmored. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/13 "2026-06-17T23:22:18Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I guess there might be better protected versions and this one was chosen for the film. They weren’t necessarily just “chosen for the film”. Those vehicles were period accurate considering the location, military branch, and purpose of the convoy. The most inaccurate part was that they were taking a contractor out for an arms sale/demonstration event in the middle of Kunar Province. Suspending that disbelief, everything else in that scene is pretty realistic, all things considered. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/14 "2026-06-17T23:26:54Z")
Note that we see the enemy shooting right through the body of the vehicle in that scene, too. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2026, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humvee-gunner-question/1030948/15 "2026-06-18T01:33:58Z")
Taking an RPG is a bad day. But at least if your gunner isn’t dropped by a sniper it would sure help things if he could keep firing back against small arms.