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Wikipedia: M151 1/4-ton 4x4 utility truck
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History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's M151 1/4-ton 4x4 utility truck page on 12 August 2017, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Truck, Utility, 1/4-Ton, 4×4, M151 (M151) was the successor to the Korean War M38 and M38A1 jeep Light Utility Vehicles. Commonly referred to as a "jeep" or "quarter-ton", it was produced from 1959 through 1982 and served in the Vietnam War. The M151 had a monocoque design making it roomier than previous jeep designs, and incorporated an independent suspension with coil springs. It has since been replaced by the larger AM General HMMWV in most utility roles in frontline use. With some M151A2 units still in U.S. military service in 1999, the M151 series achieved a longer run of service than that of the WW2 MB/GPW, M38, and M38A1 series combined.
In 1951 Ford Motor Company was awarded the contract to design a 1/4 ton 4×4 truck to replace the M38 and M38A1 model jeeps. The M151 was developed to specifications and guidance of the U.S. Army's Ordnance Tank Automotive Command. Design started in 1951 and testing and prototyping lasted through most of the fifties. Although the M151 was developed and initially produced by Ford, production contracts for the M151A2 were later also awarded to Kaiser and AM General Corp, a subsidiary of AMC.
First put into service in Vietnam, the M151 played an active part in American military operations well into the 1980s, when it was phased out in favor of the HMMWV. Despite its official replacement, the M151 had some distinct advantages over its much larger and heavier successor, like being small enough to fit inside a CH-53 heavy transport helicopter. This flexibility was one of the reasons the U.S. Marine Corps deployed M151 Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV) variants up until 1999, in theatres such as Kosovo. It currently serves in U.S. special forces units as a FAV.
Various models of the M-151 have seen successful military service in 15 different NATO countries and M151s were sold to many countries, including Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom and non-NATO countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Currently, the M151 is used by over 100 countries worldwide.
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Members of the 11th Armored Cavalry stop to talk with West German soldiers [actually border police officers] while patrolling the border between East and West Germany in M151 light vehicles. (Cropped from original version.) U.S. military photo, 1979 View photo of 11th Armored Cavalry M151 - 958KB |
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Mid-morning June 13, 2009 history began to repeat itself as antique military vehicles from the Military Vehicle Preservation Association began winding its way through downtown Washington, D.C., on the first leg of a journey that will take the drivers 3,251 miles in 26 days, traveling at about 35 mph to San Francisco. Photo by 2009 Transcontinental Motor Convoy View photo of 2009 Transcontinental Motor Convoy - 4.9MB |
