Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
September 19, 2007
Pg. 1
Number Four Times First Request Aimed At Makeshift Bombs
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
WASHINGTON — The Army has decided to ask for 10,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicles to counter the threat of makeshift bombs in Iraq, according to one of the program's top congressional supporters.
The new request is nearly four times the 2,700 vehicles, known as MRAPs, that the Army had sought. That's still not enough, said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who was briefed on the change by the Defense Department. Biden cited a request this year for 17,770 of the vehicles for the Army by Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 military commander in Iraq.
"Until every soldier and Marine has the best protection we can give them, we must keep pushing," Biden said.
Requests for more MRAPs may not matter, because manufacturers don't have the capacity to make them fast enough, said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House subcommittee that writes the Pentagon budget. John Young, chairman of the Defense Department's MRAP Task Force, has said the Pentagon hopes to build 1,300 a month by December.
Army and Pentagon officials declined Tuesday to comment on the new MRAP request. So far, the Pentagon has ordered 6,500 MRAPs, valued at about $5 billion.
The cost of the Army's new vehicles is unknown, because the newest MRAPs will cost more than the current $1 million each. They will be required to have extra protection against deadly armor-piercing weapons known as explosively formed penetrators.
The Army has changed its estimated MRAP needs throughout the year. Initially, it sought about 2,500, while the Marines wanted 3,700. In May, Defense Secretary Robert Gates pushed the Army to consider buying more MRAPs and made them the Pentagon's top purchasing priority.
In June, an Army team determined it needed 17,770 MRAPs, enough to replace all of its armored Humvees. Days later, however, the Army backed away from that number pending further study.
Gates cited the Marines' success with them in Anbar province. The V-shaped hulls disperse the force of explosions away from the vehicles' center and provide greater protection for troops inside.
Planned MRAP purchases have also depended on future projections for U.S. troops in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told Congress last week that he anticipated having 130,000 troops in Iraq by July 2008. Gates said he hoped the overall troop level would fall to 100,000 by January 2009.
"This is an acknowledgment that we'll be in Iraq for a long time and that we need to replace every Humvee there," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.
September 19, 2007
Pg. 1
Number Four Times First Request Aimed At Makeshift Bombs
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
WASHINGTON — The Army has decided to ask for 10,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicles to counter the threat of makeshift bombs in Iraq, according to one of the program's top congressional supporters.
The new request is nearly four times the 2,700 vehicles, known as MRAPs, that the Army had sought. That's still not enough, said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who was briefed on the change by the Defense Department. Biden cited a request this year for 17,770 of the vehicles for the Army by Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 military commander in Iraq.
"Until every soldier and Marine has the best protection we can give them, we must keep pushing," Biden said.
Requests for more MRAPs may not matter, because manufacturers don't have the capacity to make them fast enough, said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House subcommittee that writes the Pentagon budget. John Young, chairman of the Defense Department's MRAP Task Force, has said the Pentagon hopes to build 1,300 a month by December.
Army and Pentagon officials declined Tuesday to comment on the new MRAP request. So far, the Pentagon has ordered 6,500 MRAPs, valued at about $5 billion.
The cost of the Army's new vehicles is unknown, because the newest MRAPs will cost more than the current $1 million each. They will be required to have extra protection against deadly armor-piercing weapons known as explosively formed penetrators.
The Army has changed its estimated MRAP needs throughout the year. Initially, it sought about 2,500, while the Marines wanted 3,700. In May, Defense Secretary Robert Gates pushed the Army to consider buying more MRAPs and made them the Pentagon's top purchasing priority.
In June, an Army team determined it needed 17,770 MRAPs, enough to replace all of its armored Humvees. Days later, however, the Army backed away from that number pending further study.
Gates cited the Marines' success with them in Anbar province. The V-shaped hulls disperse the force of explosions away from the vehicles' center and provide greater protection for troops inside.
Planned MRAP purchases have also depended on future projections for U.S. troops in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told Congress last week that he anticipated having 130,000 troops in Iraq by July 2008. Gates said he hoped the overall troop level would fall to 100,000 by January 2009.
"This is an acknowledgment that we'll be in Iraq for a long time and that we need to replace every Humvee there," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.