Up-armored Hummers are still the most common vehicles in front-line service with American forces. To date, however, soldiers have reported problems getting doors open or getting out of the vehicle after land mine blasts, or during accidents that involve water. Lives have been lost, and the problem has spawned ingenious solutions like 10th Mountain Division’s door-ripping “Rat Claw” that saved Lt. Col. Michael Infanti in Iraq.

BAE’s VEE Window is a simple technology that allows crews inside a HMMWV to remove the ballistic windshields in less than 5 seconds and escape during an emergency, such as a rollover or accident. A crew member who can move freely simply pulls out the locking pins, turns the 2 latches, and pushes the window out. Since the window is otherwise normal, the VEE Window meets current windows’ ballistic properties, and was approved for the M1114 HMMWV following a series of Army performance and safety tests at Aberdeen Test Center in the summer of 2007.