Nobody appreciates radical design anymore

General Dynamics steps on a mine

From an article talking about a defense contract that General Dynamics lost w/ the government of the Czech Republic.

"The Pandur II CZ has an interesting quirk -- it was designed with a reverse-V bottom, the opposite of the V-shaped bottoms that have become all the rage since Force Protection (Nasdaq: FRPT) invented them. Everyone from Spartan Motors (Nasdaq: SPAR) to BAE Systems to Navistar began copying the design. The V-shaped hull is designed to deflect mine and IED blasts away from the vehicle and the crew inside, but the reverse-V design tries to contain the blast and keep it from ... hurting the tires. Hmm ... valuing tire rubber over human lives, who'd-a-thunk that idea wouldn't fly?"