Why does the military purposely design their vehicles(helicopters,

[oppressedoppressor]

hummers)to be uncomfortable? why do they purposely make them smell like diesel fuel all the time, and why no safety features, like padding on the walls, and ejection seats on helicopters(and yes, even hummers)and of course, why no a/c(heat and cool)

 

[lana_sands]

They are designed for function, not fun. Sorry if some things take presidence over cup holders & fluffy seat cover. But that is how it goes.... As far as the eject seat thing? It has been tried on a few copters designs.

P.s. The Russian Hokum has ejection seats. the rotor blades are blown off explosively prior to ejection.

 

[Helmut]

The safest place to be when around helicopters while blades are turning is inside the cockpit or cabin. Ejection seats for helicopters? You want to be sliced and diced by the rotors you go ahead and see how that works out for you.

Creature comforts are removed to save weight and for ease of maintenance of any vehicle. Now that you've made yourself out to be an internet wuss, go jump into your H3 and go for a drive to your local Starbucks and hang out with the rest of the nerdy hippies there.

 

[jlm9398]

because they are designed for utility and function not to look cool or be comfortable.

 

[BobLoblaw]

What country are you speak of. My country we able to only use spears and sticks and bone of yak penis for purposes of fighting.

 

[Kay]

I'm not military but my husband & I belong to a group that adopts Soldiers that get deployed every year, so my answer comes from different Soldiers that have served in Iraq. In regards to A/C in hummers...
Most of the time the hummers "Sun Roof" is open due to a Soldier standing out of it manning a weapon while on patrol. Don't see how A/C would help them there. From what our Soldiers have told us, they gladly give up comfort for safety & the ability to come home to there families.

 

[halfeatenpizza]

first off, I just want to say that I laughed at Bob Loblaw's answer for about a minute. That was hilarious dude.

Anyhoo, I don't think they are intentionally designed that way, it just isn't a priority. It's not like soldiers are the ones buying the vehicles so there's no incentive to make them comfortable. There is a lot of incentive though to make them as efficient as possible so if comfort has to be sacrificed for that, then that's the way it goes.

Also, why the hell do you need padding on the walls if you're in body armor and have your kevlar on? Even the old hummers had heat, a/c is kind of hit or miss. I've never flown a helicopter so I have no idea on that one, but I've heard of some that do (for all the people making fun of him for that, the blades eject too when you eject). I'm sure there is some reason behind not having them though. If you are going to loose the chopper anyways you might as well save the person flying it because they cost a good bit of money to train.

Anyways, they aren't all that bad.

 

[richgeasey]

An ejection seat on a helicopter? Think about it, when the seat fires up what's there? A big spinning blade!

There is heat and cooling on vehicles. Unfortunately those systems are not working frequently.

Smell like diesel? They use diesel so what do you expect!

Military vehicles get extremely hard use and comfort items do not wear very well.

 

[MsB1]

The Hummers have heat (If your don't then you should take that up with your maintenance guys). But I used to ask myself that all the time. I guess they don't want you to get comfortable, b/c when your are comfortable, you tend not be be alert. I think its to keep you on your guard. I hate long rides in those LOUD hummers and it causes you to fall asleep. Its worse when you are driving. How can you keep someone else awake if you can't even hear yourself talk??

 

[MarkH]

ejection seats on helicopters?. your a genious. go make one (just kidding). a/c is a lujury not a neccesity. and cost to weight ratio is a deciding factor. they smell like diesel fuel because morons try to put 50 gallons into a 40 gallon tank