Big Bang Ricochet 007: The M1117 Guardian ASV (d20)
This product is superceded by ATN16019 - Big Bang Ricochet Modern War Machines: M1117 Armored Security Vehicle ¸ which is $5.00 for 44 pages¸ rather than the artificially inflated $10 for the 10 pages of this product. For decades¸ the US Army's MPs have gotten the short end of the stick. Given the mission of protecting the rear areas of any military ground operation¸ they have long been forced to rely on deploying unarmored HMMWVs with only one of the Heavy Squad's weapons mounted on the roof. After land mines destroyed a few Hummers in Kosovo¸ they got some shiny new M1114 uparmored HMMWVs¸ but only a few. They got a lot more of them for operating in Iraq¸ too. However¸ Iraq got them something better than a HUMVEE. In Iraq¸ they get to use the M1117 Guardian Armored Security Vehicle. A direct descendent of the old M706 armored cars used by the Air Force for base security¸ the M1117 is a state of the art light armored vehicle to meet the transportation¸ protection¸ and firepower needs of the MP Heavy Squad¸ a team of three men that must lug around and deploy both an M-2 Browning.50 cal. MG and a Mk. 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher. With the Guardian¸ both weapons are turret mounted in a fashion that keeps all weapons activity¸ including reloading¸ under the protection of the vehicle's armored shell. Additionally¸ with a top speed of 63 mph¸ it is designed to move faster than trasport vehicles in convoy¸ making it an exceptional route scout and convoy patrol vehicle. To date¸ at least 20 men are alive specifically due to the Guardian ASV¸ surviving three RPG attacks and two roadside bombings¸ losing only a single M1117. All five incidents would have destroyed even the M1114 Uparmored Humvee.