Now that Christmas is over, the Chinese can get back to making things you won't find at Wal-Mart — like an armored attack vehicle with a turret based on a reverse-engineered Army HMMWV (Hummer H1 to us civvies).


The Dongfeng EQ2050 — commonly translated as the Dongfeng Crazy Soldier — has proven to be a popular choice among China's various security services. In an effort to expand its product line, Dongfeng has fitted light armor and a roof turret to the Hummer's stout frame. Power is provided by a Cummins-designed diesel V8, built by a Chinese/Cummins joint venture in the Celestial Empire.

Feel free to see this as another part of China's unsettling recent military buildup, but given the events of this past year it might be a marketable commodity.