Why the M1117 Never Replaced the Humvee

Go to to get 20 to 50% off sitewide! Brought to you by Raycon. The M1117 started life way back in the 1960s as the Commando series of vehicles built by Cadillac Gage. Military police forces in Vietnam needed a vehicle for base and convoy security that was more nimble than the tracked M113 APC but better armored than a jeep or truck. The first version, known as the V-100, entered service in 1963 and was shipped to South Vietnam to support the US Military Police, Air Force, Marine Corps and allied Army of the Republic of Vietnam. As a security vehicle armed only with machine guns or a grenade launcher, the V-100 wasn’t intended for front line combat, instead patrolling air bases and supply depots along with escorting convoys behind the lines, but the nature of the conflict in Vietnam meant that the Commando frequently found itself pressed into cavalry and mechanized units of the ARVN. The vehicle’s steel armor was only sufficient to stop light machine gun