Media General News Service August 09, 2007
Pentagon seeks stronger armored vehicles
By James W. Crawley
WASHINGTON -- While most of the best, new vehicles for protecting troops from deadly roadside bombs won't arrive in Iraq for months, the Pentagon already wants newer, tougher models of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle.
The new models, called MRAP II, illustrate the battle between ever-changing insurgent tactics and the U.S. military's ability to protect troops.
The military plans to buy up to 22,000 MRAPs for Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon has ordered 5,690 vehicles with up to 8,000 scheduled for purchase by September 2008, costing about $11.3 billion.
So far, only 210 MRAPs have reached Iraq. By December, military officials hope to have 3,500 armored vehicles there.
The armored vehicles feature V-shaped passenger compartments that deflect bomb blasts from occupants.
MRAP IIs "must meet enhanced survivability requirements," said Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin.
She said she could not be more specific because of security concerns.
Keeping pace with insurgents' changes in tactics and weapons will drive how the military improves MRAPs, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org.
"This will probably be the first of several iterations (for MRAPs)," Pike said.
Quick improvements in weapons are needed, said Loren Thompson, defense analyst at Lexington Institute, a national security think tank in Arlington, Va.
"If you have a rapidly changing threat, you've got to be able to adapt quickly or otherwise you're going to lose soldiers and, possibly, a war," he said.
The Marine Corps, the lead service for buying MRAPs, has asked 19 firms to submit proposals to design and build improved versions of the armored vehicles.
On the list are MRAP contractors like Force Protection Inc. and Protected Vehicles Inc., both near Charleston, S.C., and firms without military MRAP contracts like Granite Tactical Vehicles of Pilot Mountain, N.C., and Blackwater Security Consulting of Moyock, N.C.
Each firm can submit two versions -- one capable of carrying six soldiers and another carrying 10.
Contractors will have 60 days to build test vehicles.
The plan then calls for up to six months of testing the vehicles' ability to withstand improvised explosive devices, including the deadliest, known as explosively formed penetrators. The trials in Maryland and Arizona will also test maneuverability and servicing.
The Marines will require the second-generation MRAPs to cruise at 65 miles per hour on roads, accelerate from 0 to 55 mph in 45 seconds or less, climb inclines and protect occupants from nuclear fallout.
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