DoubleTheDinars
06-28-2007, 10:52 AM
Blast-resistant vehicles slated for Iraq
Blast-resistant vehicles slated for Iraq (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu8u11oNGF.cA5mNXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByaWFzcXJ lBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2UEdnRpZANGODI0XzE0Mg--/SIG=1335na00a/EXP=1183131701/**http%3a//www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-22-iraq-vehicles_N.htm%3fcsp=34) USA Today
By Tom Vanden Brook (http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=629), USA TODAY
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Pentagon is scrambling to build and ship armored vehicles to Iraq that are four times more resistant to bomb blasts than a Humvee, military officials say.
The military wants 6,700 armored vehicles with V-shaped hulls that deflect the blasts from the top killer of U.S. troops — homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Robert Magnus recently told Congress the Marines want at least 3,700 of the vehicles, while the Army wants 2,500 by year's end. Other services would get them as well.
The vehicles could cut the rate of U.S. casualties by two-thirds, Magnus said.
That's why "the Army needs to change course immediately" and buy more of the vehicles, said Rep. Gene Taylor, a Mississippi Democrat and member of the House Armed Services Committee. "To not do it is a scandal. It will lead to needless loss of life."
IEDs cause 70% of all U.S. casualties in Iraq, Pentagon records show. IED blasts killed six U.S. troops during the past week.
The Army may order more of the vehicles, but it doesn't intend for them to replace its 16,000 armored Humvees in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Charles Anderson said. The new vehicles are too heavy and hard to maneuver in urban areas such as Baghdad, said Anderson, the Army's director of force development.
"The Humvee is still a viable option in the theater," he said. The Army is committed to add-on armor kits for the Humvees, which cost almost $29,000 apiece. Each of the new vehicles costs at least $700,000, according to Army budget documents.
Taylor's not convinced: "I don't want to go to the funeral for the soldier or Marine who happens to be the last one in a Humvee over there who dies needlessly."
Humvees ride closer to the ground and have flat, less protected bottoms. That makes them vulnerable to buried bombs.
"You can up-armor a Humvee, but you'll never get the protection right," said Vernon Joynt, chief scientist at Force Protection, which builds the new vehicles. "They may get the sides protected. Not the bottom."
The vehicles aren't bomb-proof. They've been breached by a new type of IED called the explosively formed projectile, which fires a high-speed chunk of metal that can penetrate armor.
Rush to build
To meet the growing demand for the mine-protected vehicles, the Pentagon has contracted with nine companies, including Force Protection and Protected Vehicles, both in Charleston, S.C.
Four years ago, a dozen people worked on Force Protection's small assembly line making an armored truck. Today, 850 workers on two shifts churn out the vehicles, some of which are flown from a nearby Air Force base directly to a battlefield in Iraq. Down the road at Protected Vehicles, which didn't exist two years ago, 235 workers make similar vehicles.
So far, there isn't enough money to buy them. The military is $4.45 billion short of the $7 billion needed for the vehicles, Landis said. The Pentagon will try to make up the shortfall with emergency funding and by shifting money from other programs, Landis said.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved spending $1.4 billion — $311 million more than the White House sought — for the vehicles.
Force Protection has had some growing pains. Last year, it agreed to pay $1.9 million to the federal government and two former employees to settle a complaint brought by the workers. Force Protection's latest annual report showed it made its first profit in 2006. There's also an ongoing audit by the Pentagon's inspector general into the company's ability to deliver on the contract, records show.
Pentagon planners consider the mine-protected vehicle a bridge to the ultimate Humvee replacement, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The Pentagon recently challenged corporate leaders to develop the vehicle. It would need to protect troops from IEDs and be easily transportable unlike the heavier mine-protected vehicles, Landis said.
The Pentagon plans to request proposals for the joint vehicle as soon as next month and award the contract for the vehicle next year, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson said. Production is scheduled for 2012, but the Army will push to get it sooner, he said.
Why wait? asked James Livingston, a retired Marine general who's a consultant for Protected Vehicles. The Pentagon is wasting time looking for the perfect replacement for the Humvee, he said.
"Let's get something in the field that works," said Livingston, who received the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam.
Blast-resistant vehicles slated for Iraq (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu8u11oNGF.cA5mNXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByaWFzcXJ lBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2UEdnRpZANGODI0XzE0Mg--/SIG=1335na00a/EXP=1183131701/**http%3a//www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-22-iraq-vehicles_N.htm%3fcsp=34) USA Today
By Tom Vanden Brook (http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=629), USA TODAY
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Pentagon is scrambling to build and ship armored vehicles to Iraq that are four times more resistant to bomb blasts than a Humvee, military officials say.
The military wants 6,700 armored vehicles with V-shaped hulls that deflect the blasts from the top killer of U.S. troops — homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Robert Magnus recently told Congress the Marines want at least 3,700 of the vehicles, while the Army wants 2,500 by year's end. Other services would get them as well.
The vehicles could cut the rate of U.S. casualties by two-thirds, Magnus said.
That's why "the Army needs to change course immediately" and buy more of the vehicles, said Rep. Gene Taylor, a Mississippi Democrat and member of the House Armed Services Committee. "To not do it is a scandal. It will lead to needless loss of life."
IEDs cause 70% of all U.S. casualties in Iraq, Pentagon records show. IED blasts killed six U.S. troops during the past week.
The Army may order more of the vehicles, but it doesn't intend for them to replace its 16,000 armored Humvees in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Charles Anderson said. The new vehicles are too heavy and hard to maneuver in urban areas such as Baghdad, said Anderson, the Army's director of force development.
"The Humvee is still a viable option in the theater," he said. The Army is committed to add-on armor kits for the Humvees, which cost almost $29,000 apiece. Each of the new vehicles costs at least $700,000, according to Army budget documents.
Taylor's not convinced: "I don't want to go to the funeral for the soldier or Marine who happens to be the last one in a Humvee over there who dies needlessly."
Humvees ride closer to the ground and have flat, less protected bottoms. That makes them vulnerable to buried bombs.
"You can up-armor a Humvee, but you'll never get the protection right," said Vernon Joynt, chief scientist at Force Protection, which builds the new vehicles. "They may get the sides protected. Not the bottom."
The vehicles aren't bomb-proof. They've been breached by a new type of IED called the explosively formed projectile, which fires a high-speed chunk of metal that can penetrate armor.
Rush to build
To meet the growing demand for the mine-protected vehicles, the Pentagon has contracted with nine companies, including Force Protection and Protected Vehicles, both in Charleston, S.C.
Four years ago, a dozen people worked on Force Protection's small assembly line making an armored truck. Today, 850 workers on two shifts churn out the vehicles, some of which are flown from a nearby Air Force base directly to a battlefield in Iraq. Down the road at Protected Vehicles, which didn't exist two years ago, 235 workers make similar vehicles.
So far, there isn't enough money to buy them. The military is $4.45 billion short of the $7 billion needed for the vehicles, Landis said. The Pentagon will try to make up the shortfall with emergency funding and by shifting money from other programs, Landis said.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved spending $1.4 billion — $311 million more than the White House sought — for the vehicles.
Force Protection has had some growing pains. Last year, it agreed to pay $1.9 million to the federal government and two former employees to settle a complaint brought by the workers. Force Protection's latest annual report showed it made its first profit in 2006. There's also an ongoing audit by the Pentagon's inspector general into the company's ability to deliver on the contract, records show.
Pentagon planners consider the mine-protected vehicle a bridge to the ultimate Humvee replacement, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The Pentagon recently challenged corporate leaders to develop the vehicle. It would need to protect troops from IEDs and be easily transportable unlike the heavier mine-protected vehicles, Landis said.
The Pentagon plans to request proposals for the joint vehicle as soon as next month and award the contract for the vehicle next year, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson said. Production is scheduled for 2012, but the Army will push to get it sooner, he said.
Why wait? asked James Livingston, a retired Marine general who's a consultant for Protected Vehicles. The Pentagon is wasting time looking for the perfect replacement for the Humvee, he said.
"Let's get something in the field that works," said Livingston, who received the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam.