Honeycomb tire design solves roadside hazard problems for G.I. Joe

Several of the many upgrades that Humvees are getting in Iraq to protect against ambush include thicker armor plating and new honeycomb tires which are bullet proof and will keep the humvee rolling when it’s been ambushed in a firefight or even an I.E.D. What’s the secret? It doesn’t use air.

The Honeycombs are based on a polymeric web which will not only take bullet fire, but also explosions from an improvised explosive device and still let our boys in cammy get away at over 50 miles an hour. Most injuries and deaths occur, not because of the initial IED blast – armor can take most of that blunt force trauma – but because the tires have been blown out. And even though current tire design calls for a “run while flat” specification, there’s little a tire can do when the air has been ripped out of the tire by shrapnel. Seems run while flat tires still need small amounts of air still in them. But the Honeycomb’s don’t, according to their manufacturer, Resilient Technologies.
After studying every rwf tire on the market, and tires ripped to shreds in theater, Resilient went to mother nature for the answer and came up with a six-sided cell pattern honeycomb design that can best Emulate the “ride feel” of pneumatic tires, while allowing shrapnel to simply pass through the open spaces. What you end up with is a tire that is not only more robust and durable, but also runs quieter and cooler than current models. And Resilient is confident they can bring the tire, expected to be added to the Humvee design in 2011, to the Army for the same or even less a cost as current tires.