Even though the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV), also known as the Guardian, was developed in the late 1990s, it is actually an evolutionary step in the development of the Cold War era V100/V150/V200 Cadillac Gage Commando armored car.

The V100 series was first developed in the early 1960s, and saw use in the occupation of Viet Nam.  It was also sold, and even given away, to many small countries which could not afford to buy full-blown battle tanks.  Several state and city level law enforcement agencies, in the United States (U.S.), use the V150.

Eventually, the U.S. military designated it as M706.  Six wheeled versions are known as LAV (Light Armored Vehicle)-300 and LAV-600.

Production of the M1117 began in 1999.  The occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in the U.S. military realizing that its even older HMMWV vehicles were vulnerable to land-mines, and thus production of the M1117 was increased.  In the early years, the U.S. military referred to the M1117 as the ASV.

The U.S. Army (USA) M1117 is armed with a M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, and a Mark 19 40mm grenade machine gun (referred to as a grenade launcher).  It is used mainly by Military Police. The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) version adds a M240 light machine gun (based on the European  FN MAG) on top of the turret.

USA-Reserve video of M1117s conducting gunnery in Iraq, 25OCT2005:

Poor quality video report, by Staff Sergeant John Anderson, showing maintenance on the M1117 in Afghanistan, in September 2006.  It would not be until 2018 that the USA would develop a specific maintenance training course for what would be unofficially called The Frankenstein:

USA video report about the use of the M1117 as a convoy security vehicle in Iraq, 05FEB2009.  Notice in the report they say that ASV stands for Armored Scout Vehicle:

There are many other versions, such as recovery vehicles, ambulances, personnel carriers, and artillery gun carriers and artillery FiST-V.

U.S. Army video by Martin Greeson, from May 2014, U.S. soldiers learn how to unstick an M1117 stuck in a ditch in NATO Germany:

Alabama Army National Guard video, by Sergeant Brenda Smith, showing M1117 gunnery on Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida, April 2015:

By 2018, the U.S. Army finally create a maintenance training course specifically for the M1117.  That is because technicians began to refer to the M1117 as ‘Frankenstein’, because most of its internal components were made by many different companies, which complicated things: “The ASV is a melting pot of parts. Attention to detail with the ASV is needed due to its Frankenstein appearance.”-Herbert Green, M1117 maintenance instructor with the 99th Readiness Division

In NATO Canada, it is known as the Textron Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV).  In Afghanistan it is known as the Mobile Strike Force Vehicle (MSFV).  The taxpayers of the U.S. have not-knowingly paid for more than one thousand M1117s, donated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to various countries like NATO Greece, Kosovo, Colombia, and now Ukraine. 

In 2017, the cost of a new M1117 was put at $809-thousand-5-hundred each!

On 04NOV2022, the U.S. DoD announced that 250 M1117s would be rebuilt for use by the Ukrainian military, in its war against Russia.

May 2022: It has been revealed that the U.S. M113 Armored Personnel Carriers for Ukraine are coming from the Army National Guard inventories of at least five states!

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