The Humvee is Coming Back From the Dead

The engine arrived first, quietly, on a company LinkedIn page: 250 horsepower, a 6.5-liter turbo diesel V8, no price, no name, no delivery date. The vehicle it's meant for is the Humvee, which the U.S. Army formally called "outdated" in May 2025 and said it would stop buying. This video traces how the Humvee got here: from the 1979 Army requirement and AM General's 1985 production start, to the Gulf War fame, to the IED crisis in Iraq that nearly ended it. We follow the JLTV replacement program, AM General's upset 2023 win over Oshkosh, the Army's surprise 2025 cancellation of both vehicles, and AM General's three-phase plan to modernize the Humvee anyway, including a self-driving, cabinless version already shown publicly. We also separate what's confirmed (the engine, the autonomous prototype) from what isn't (a production vehicle, a price, a single confirmed customer). Sources: Dealroom.co, "AM General revives the Humvee with new 6.5-litre diesel engine," Oct. 1–2, 2026 Defence Blog, "Like a phoenix: AM General revives the iconic Humvee," Oct. 2, 2026 Armada International, "AM General's Next-Generation HUMVEE (HMMWV)," Oct. 5, 2026 The Fast Lane Truck, "This New HUMVEE Drives Itself and It's Powered by a New 6.5L Turbo Diesel V8," Mar. 2026 autoevolution, "They Just Made a Cabinless Humvee, And There's Nothing It Can't Do," Mar. 25, 2026 JeepSpecs.com, "A Brief History Of The Hummer" (AM General corporate history, cross-checked) MilitaryTrader, "Humvee History," by Steve Turchet (development/prototype history, cross-checked against primary sources) HistoryNet, "M998 Humvee: The All-Terrain Tactical Vehicle" RM Sotheby's, "M998 HMMWV 'Humvee'" (production/combat history reference) Wikipedia, "Humvee," "Hummer H1," "AM General," "Joint Light Tactical Vehicle," "Shadow RST-V" (cross-checked against primary and defense-press reporting for dates, figures, and contract history) MilitaryMachine.com, "The HMMWV by AM General" (production and export figures) Task & Purpose, "How The Humvee Failed On The Battlefield And Sparked A Culture War Back Home" Columbia Journalism Review, "Putting the Focus on Another Paradox of War" (Rumsfeld exchange, cross-checked) Modern War Institute at West Point, "Stuck in the Sand: Why the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is Ill-Equipped for Tomorrow's Battlefield" CSBA, "Of IEDs and MRAPs: Force Protection in Complex Irregular Operations" Breaking Defense, "AM General wins Army's JLTV recompete, deal valued up to $8.6 billion," Feb. 9, 2023 The Defense Post, "US Upholds $9.7B JLTV Deal With AM General, Rejects Oshkosh Protest," June 13, 2023 National Defense Magazine, "AM General Catching Up on JLTV Production Following Delays," Oct. 16, 2024, and "Axed Army Vehicle Programs Leave Unanswered Questions," June 25, 2025 Marine Corps Times, "Marines sticking with JLTV after Army cancels future vehicle buys," May 20, 2025 Congressional Research Service, "Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)," updated editions through June 2026 Defense Daily, "AM General Unveils Hybrid-Electric Humvee Concept" Army Technology, "QinetiQ and AM General to integrate hybrid electric drive system into HUMVEE" Electrified Magazine, "AM General's Humvee Charge Concept Is A Plug-In Hybrid" Defense News, "Humvee company ups foreign sales, announces orders from nine countries," 2017 Chapters: 0:00 The Humvee's unlikely return 0:46 Origins and military service 3:46 Vulnerability and conflict 6:30 The JLTV transition 7:51 Army shifts procurement 9:49 Modernizing an old icon 13:14 Global market potential 15:46 A platform at a crossroads #Humvee #USArmy #MilitaryTechnology