Seeing a need to replace the militarized civilian
trucks they used in service at the time, the US
Army requested a new vehicle to supplant and eventually
replace the wheeled vehicles already in service.
Eventually the planned vehicle, known as the High
Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV,
were built by AM General with over 55,000 orders
for the first contract in 1985. The HMMWV or as
it is known at times as the Humvee became very
popular with the US military and eventually other
nations began to use it as well. Also the HMMWV
was modified and sold to the general population
as the Hummer.
Despite the fact that its initial function was
to operate behind friendly lines and the lack
of armor, it could carry multiple types of weapons,
which included a 7.62mm machine gun, a .50 caliber
machine gun, or a Grenade Launcher.
Although designed mainly for light cargo and
personnel transport, the HMMWV found itself involved
in the front lines, starting in the fighting in
Panama in 1989. While at first it operated well
in conventional conflicts, later fighting in Somalia
on the continent of Africa in October of 1993
highlighted the need for more protection for the
HMMWV.
However, all of the conflicts that the HMMWV
paled in comparison to what it faced in 1998 on
the streets of New York. As a giant monster called
Godzilla appeared from the waters of the Atlantic
and began to devastate New York City, the US Army
sprung into action to combat the beast. Due to
the urban nature of the battlefield, the HMMWV
took the brunt of the fighting as they patrolled
the streets to find Godzilla and when they did
find him, engage the monster, usually chased him
around the city. Even though they could carry
different weapons, none of them seems to work
as they could not lock on to Godzilla and those
weapons that did score hits did not inflict any
damage. Heavily involved in trying to stop the
creature, HMMWVs suffered heavy losses as their
foe easily incinerated them or smashed them aside
with its feet as they chased him around the city
or shoot at him as he smashed through the different
roadblocks set up throughout the city.
