Even though the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV), also known as the Guardian, was developed in the late 1990s, it is actually an evolutionary step in the development of the Cold War era V100/V150/V200 Cadillac Gage Commando armored car.
U.S. Army V100 Commando during Tet Offensive in Viet Nam, 31JAN1967.
The V100 series was first developed in the early 1960s, and saw use in the occupation of Viet Nam. It was also sold, and even given away, to many small countries which could not afford to buy full-blown battle tanks. Several state and city level law enforcement agencies, in the United States (U.S.), use the V150.
Vietnam War era V-100/M706 armored car, displayed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.
Eventually, the U.S. military designated it as M706. Six wheeled versions are known as LAV (Light Armored Vehicle)-300 and LAV-600.
Production of the M1117 began in 1999. The occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in the U.S. military realizing that its even older HMMWV vehicles were vulnerable to land-mines, and thus production of the M1117 was increased. In the early years, the U.S. military referred to the M1117 as the ASV.
Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. Army Photo by Specialist Jeremy D. Crisp, 04APR2005.
The U.S. Army (USA) M1117 is armed with a M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, and a Mark 19 40mm grenade machine gun (referred to as a grenade launcher). It is used mainly by Military Police. The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) version adds a M240 light machine gun (based on the European FN MAG) on top of the turret.
USA-Reserve video of M1117s conducting gunnery in Iraq, 25OCT2005:
M1117 bore sight target board, Balad, Iraq, October 2006. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Karonda Fleming.
Tikrit, Iraq. U.S. Army photo, 02NOV2006.
Poor quality video report, by Staff Sergeant John Anderson, showing maintenance on the M1117 in Afghanistan, in September 2006. It would not be until 2018 that the USA would develop a specific maintenance training course for what would be unofficially called The Frankenstein:
Taji, Iraq, 17MAY2008. USA photo by Sergeant Andrea Merritt.
USA video report about the use of the M1117 as a convoy security vehicle in Iraq, 05FEB2009. Notice in the report they say that ASV stands for Armored Scout Vehicle:
Brand new M1117 Armored Security Vehicles arrive on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, 04APR2011. USA photo by Specialist Kimberly Hackbarth.
M1117 drives into a hole on the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany. USA photo by Michael Beaton, 04OCT2012.
There are many other versions, such as recovery vehicles, ambulances, personnel carriers, and artillery gun carriers and artillery FiST-V.
M1200 Armored Knight FiST-V. Georgia Army National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Tracy J. Smith, 24JUL2014.
Washington DC National Guard M1117 Armored Security Vehicle. DC National Guard photo by Jesse Searls, 21JAN2014.
U.S. Army video by Martin Greeson, from May 2014, U.S. soldiers learn how to unstick an M1117 stuck in a ditch in NATO Germany:
Alabama Army National Guard video, by Sergeant Brenda Smith, showing M1117 gunnery on Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida, April 2015:
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Helen Miller, 23JUN2017.
Pulling the motor from a M1117, 14MAR2018. USA-Reserve photo by Master Sergeant Michel Sauret.
By 2018, the U.S. Army finally create a maintenance training course specifically for the M1117. That is because technicians began to refer to the M1117 as ‘Frankenstein’, because most of its internal components were made by many different companies, which complicated things: “The ASV is a melting pot of parts. Attention to detail with the ASV is needed due to its Frankenstein appearance.”-Herbert Green, M1117 maintenance instructor with the 99th Readiness Division
By 2019, the Illinois Army National Guard began displaying their Guardians alongside vehicles in the State Military Museum. Illinois National Guard photo by Lieutenant Colonel Bradford Leighton, 18MAY2019.
In NATO Canada, it is known as the Textron Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV). In Afghanistan it is known as the Mobile Strike Force Vehicle (MSFV). The taxpayers of the U.S. have not-knowingly paid for more than one thousand M1117s, donated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to various countries like NATO Greece, Kosovo, Colombia, and now Ukraine.
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Angela Simpson, 04AUG2017.
In 2017, the cost of a new M1117 was put at $809-thousand-5-hundred each!
On 04NOV2022, the U.S. DoD announced that 250 M1117s would be rebuilt for use by the Ukrainian military, in its war against Russia.
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