Courtesy Photo | A Humvee at the Ohio Army National Guard Unit's Combined Support Maintenance Shop on...... read more read more
The Humvee has played a vital role in U.S. military success for decades. Having seen action in the first Gulf War, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, it holds iconic status as a symbol of U.S. military might; and through various upgrades and additions, it continues to stand the test of time – with the help of Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime’s ‘Mighty Land’ team.
Over the past couple of years, DLA Land has been immersed in challenging yet critical work developing strategic acquisition and logistics solutions for the Humvee B-kit – a heated, non-egress, transparent armored windshield accessory kit that provides ground troops an added layer of protection.
Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christopher Dulaney, with DLA Land Customer Operations, emphasized just how important that added layer of protection is. He said the original Humvees didn’t have armored windows or doors.
“We’d sit with our feet propped on sandbags [to deaden the impact of possible mine explosions] and put Kevlar vests against the doors,” he said. “But the windows were still just regular, thin glass.”
The initial push into Iraq in 2003 revealed the crucial need for armor, as warfighters were finding themselves in dangerous urban neighborhoods, he said. The military began retrofitting Humvees with armor and bulletproof windows.
Lori Archibald, DLA Land Industrial Hardware and Transparent Armor Division chief, said the B-kit was developed in 2014, when the Army decided to convert the Humvee fleet from an egress to a non-egress, rigid windshield. The B-kit has a right and left transparent armored windshield and includes all the hardware to complete the conversion. Once converted, only replacement glass is needed throughout the life of the system.
“The Army provisioned and qualified sources and said they needed a certain amount, and we went out and bought it,” she said. “But over time, one vendor bought out another, then in 2022 that company, our sole source, closed their doors and we were unable to buy the B-kit or the replacement glass.”
At the same time, the Army was initiating a technical data transition from Acquisition Technical Procurement Description Revision T to Revision U to increase the specification by which it’s made for a longer-lasting product.
“We were hearing from the fleet about quality problems with the glass,” said Brian Watercutter, DLA Land Integrated Supply Team chief. “In the desert, with the temperatures going from extreme high in the day to extreme low in the night – that back and forth was causing the layers of the glass to separate. This is a safety issue because the glass becomes foggy.”
Revision U – or Rev U – involves testing requirements that more intensely simulate the impact of environmental extremes on the glass, but it is also more difficult to make, he added.
“We didn’t have anyone making the glass let alone the B-kit as a whole, because our previous supplier had cornered the market on Humvee windows for so long,” Archibald said. “We talked to the Army and asked that they hold off on Rev U so that we could first find manufacturers for Rev T.”
The DLA Land team worked diligently to identify manufacturers interested in this progressive approach and fostered close collaboration with those new industry partners and the Army’s Engineering Support Activity to balance industry capacity with high-quality, agile warfighter support.
DLA Land began buying B-kits and replacement glass at Rev T from several vendors, while simultaneously seeking those who could pass the Rev U testing requirements.
The Rev U testing, which is completed by a third-party independent test lab, requires 12 cycles in a lifecycle chamber with drastically swinging temperatures to mimic the weather changes the transparent armor must endure. Initial vendor feedback and testing indicated that vendors, on average, could pass six cycles but were having difficulty reaching the full 12 cycles.
“The DLA team proposed to the Army, ‘what if we ask vendors to pass six cycles – just temporarily to get parts moving and to the warfighters?’” Archibald said. “The parts still work and have the same ballistic requirements; they just won’t last quite as long…but they’re still better than Rev T.”
With a goal of awarding up to four contracts to four different vendors, the DLA Land team began soliciting just the testing requirement.
“It was really a novel idea,” Archibald said. “It wasn’t for a number of parts; it was just for the test.”
Four vendors won the awards and ran concurrent tests. All four passed and qualified to produce the B-kit to the modified Rev U standard, unofficially called ‘Rev U-lite.’ The DLA Land team began purchasing large quantities of Rev U-lite B-kits and replacement glass between the four vendors.
“It was a blended approach, really,” Archibald said. “We had the manufactures making parts to Rev T while they were testing on Rev U-lite. Once they were done and we started getting some sources approved, we transitioned the entire procurement to the Rev U-lite and that’s what we’ve been buying since.”
Since January 2024, DLA Land has filled 3,719 lines of backorder for the Humvee B-kits, decreasing backorders by more than half. Nearly 2,000 Humvees were sitting, unused, in a ‘Non-Mission Capable Status’ waiting for transparent armor. That number is now less than 100.
Over the past year, all backorders for the replacement glass have been fulfilled, with stock on the shelf and more coming to support future military customer needs. DLA Land has shipped out to military units worldwide, nearly 7,000 replacement windows since the beginning of 2024.
Watercutter said the goal is still to transition to the Rev U that requires 12 cycles, but that will come as demands decrease.
“There may be a lag when we go to the Rev U, so we want a surplus of stock on hand to ensure uninterrupted support to the warfighter during the transition,” he explained.
He added that the team continues close collaboration with the Army and industry partners, holding regular meetings and working groups to share ideas, discuss challenges and avoid duplicating efforts.
“I think one of the biggest success stories here is about collaboration,” he said. “Between the manufacturers, ESAs and [DLA]…the willingness of everyone to try new things and be open to it.”
Archibald added that the vendors have already started some of their own testing to get to the Rev U standard, “…But we won’t transition to the Rev U until we have confirmed multiple sources,” she said.
With four manufacturing sources for the Humvee B-kit and replacement glass, DLA Land can ensure there is a healthy and flexible defense industrial base to support long-term warfighter needs.
“We don’t want to ever be in that position again - when our sole manufacturer closed their doors and we had nothing,” Archibald said. “We’ll continue to use the capacity and capabilities of various manufacturers so we’re not vulnerable and reliant on just one company.”
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2025 13:34 |
| Story ID: | 492411 |
| Location: | COLUMBUS, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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