Thousands of Humvees in the U.S. Marine Corps' fleet of vehicles will not get planned upgrades because of budget cuts.
According to Military.com, the upgrades would have modernized 6,700 Humvees due to extra weight they're carrying because of heavy armor that was added to protect troops.
As part of the sustainment modification initiative (SMI), the vehicles were slated to be overhauled because the armor plating puts extra stress on the suspension, engine, and transmission of the vehicles, according to the report. But because of sequestration, which essentially shrinks the size of the federal budget, the program was shelved.
"The program was, in fact, terminated," William Taylor, who heads the land systems program for the Marines, said during a hearing Thursday that focused on the military's 2016 budget.
Taylor said the Corps will keep the program in mind if more funding becomes available in the future. For now, however, the vehicles will continue to be used as is.
"We were allowed to continue the nonrecurring effort associated with that program such that we have actually completed the development work and put three capability packages on the shelf," Taylor said, reports Military.com. "So, if in times of prosperity, the Marine Corps can return to those engineering proposals and reconsider instituting them in terms of procurement."
According to the report, the Marine Corps plans to shrink its fleet of Humvees from 24,000 to 18,500. The hummus being phased out will eventually be replaced by a vehicle currently in development, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
The Army and Marines plan to buy a combined 54,720 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles at a total cost of more than $30 billion. Each vehicle will cost about $559,000, according to Military.com.
Earlier this month, lawmakers warned the Pentagon that sequestration budget cuts
were not going away anytime soon. In fact, another round of cuts will go into effect in the fall.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that budget cuts to the military are putting American soldiers' lives at risk.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.