 Iraq
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 MRAP
MRAP News:
20080509
-
 US
- Iraq
- MRAPs
-  Vehicles
- "Military
adds armor to vehicles as roadside bombs surge."
... "The U.S. military is reinforcing the sides of its topline mine-resistant
vehicles to shore up what could be weak points as troops see a spike in
armor-piercing roadside bombings across Iraq, The Associated Press has
learned." ... "The surge in attacks is putting the mine-resistant, ambush-protected
vehicles (MRAPs) to the test, and so far they are largely passing. Statistics
reviewed by the AP show that while bombings involving the deadly penetrating
explosives have jumped by about 40 percent in the past three months, deaths
in such bombings have dropped by as much as 17 percent." ... "Officials
attribute much of the decline in deaths to the increased use of MRAPs,
pronounced "M-raps." To date, about a half-dozen troops have died in incidents
that involved the new bomb-resistant vehicles, and several of those deaths
occurred in rollovers rather than from explosives penetrating the armor."
-By Lolita C. Baldor and Chelsea Carter
-AP via -SeattleTimes
20080226
-
US
- Iraq
-
 Military
- MRAP
- Vehicles
-  Investigation
-  Government
-  Politics
- "Marines
halt study critical of MRAP program." ... "The Marine
Corps has ordered a civilian scientist to stop work on a report critical
of its efforts to obtain new armored vehicles, saying he exceeded his authority,
a Marine official said Tuesday." ... "Franz Gayl, a retired Marine officer
and civilian science adviser, alleged in a Jan. 22 report that "gross mismanagement"
of the program to quickly field Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)
vehicles had resulted in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of Marines
in Iraq. Gayl had planned to continue his investigation." ... "Gayl's report
was first made public by the Associated Press on Feb. 15. The report said
Marine procurement officers spurned requests from commanders in Iraq for
blast-resistant vehicles because they didn't want to derail other projects."
... "PROBE:
Pentagon
urged to investigate MRAP report." ... "MRAP REPORT: Lack
of vehicles cost Marine lives." ... "FULL COVERAGE: Troops
at Risk: IEDs in Iraq." -By Tom Vanden Brook
-USATODAY
20080215
-
US
- Iraq
- MRAP
- Military
- Vehicles
-
 Science
-  People
-  Money
- Government
- Politics
- "Study:
Lack of MRAPs cost Marine lives." ... "More than
700 U.S. troops died from roadside bombs because the Marine Corps' devotion
to a military vehicle years away from deployment kept it from buying available
Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) trucks, according to an internal
Marine report obtained Friday by USA TODAY." ... "Instead of fulfilling
an urgent Marine request from the field for 1,169 vehicles in February
2005, Marine Corps leaders and analysts delayed fielding the MRAPs, and
instead bought more armored Humvees, the report written by Marine science
adviser Franz Gayl says." ... "Gayl, who filed for federal whistle-blower
protection last May, has criticized the Marines' delays in fielding MRAPs
and has briefed members of Congress about the problems in meeting requests
from troops in the field. His report, dated Jan. 22, says Marine bureaucrats
didn't understand the need for MRAPs and they delayed buying the large,
armored vehicles because they wanted to save money for a future replacement
for the Humvee called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)." ... "Stopping
the threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq in 2005
was deemed secondary to developing the JLTV, Gayl wrote. The Marines, he
wrote, saw JTLV "as a higher priority than the daily killed and wounded
being experienced by … known IED threats in 2005."" ... "Improvised explosive
devices are the largest single killer of U.S. troops in Iraq and are blamed
for at least 60% of all U.S. casualties there. " -By
Ray Locker -USATODAY
20070716
-
US
- Iraq
- Military
- People
- Vehicles- Safety
- Technology
- Money
-Politics
- Manufacturing
-
 History
-  South
Africa - "Pentagon
balked at pleas from officers in field for safer vehicles:
Iraqi troops got MRAPs; Americans waited." ... "Years before the war began,
Pentagon officials knew of the effectiveness of another type of vehicle
that better shielded troops from bombs like those that have killed [25
year old Pfc. Aaron] Kincaid and 1,500 other soldiers and Marines. But
military officials repeatedly balked at appeals — from commanders on the
battlefield and from the Pentagon's own staff — to provide the lifesaving
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP, for patrols and combat
missions, USA TODAY found." ... "As early as December 2003, when the Marines
requested their first 27 MRAPs for explosives-disposal teams, Pentagon
analysts sent detailed information about the superiority of the vehicles
to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, e-mails obtained by USA TODAY show. Later
pleas came from Iraq, where commanders saw that the approach the Joint
Chiefs embraced — adding armor to the sides of Humvees, the standard vehicles
in the war zone — did little to protect against blasts beneath the vehicles."
... "Why the issue never received more of a hearing from top officials
early in the war remains a mystery, given the chorus of concern. One Pentagon
analyst complained in an April 29, 2004, e-mail to colleagues, for instance,
that it was "frustrating to see the pictures of burning Humvees while knowing
that there are other vehicles out there that would provide more protection.""
... "The analyst was referring to the MRAP, whose V-shaped hull puts the
crew more than 3 feet off the ground and deflects explosions. It was designed
to withstand the underbelly bombs that cripple the lower-riding Humvees.
Pentagon officials, civilians and military alike, had been searching for
technologies to guard against improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The
makeshift bombs are the No. 1 killer of U.S. forces." ... "The MRAP was
not new to the Pentagon. The technology had been developed in South Africa
and Rhodesia in the 1970s, making it older than Kincaid and most of the
other troops killed by homemade bombs. The Pentagon had tested MRAPs in
2000, purchased fewer than two dozen and sent some to Iraq. They were used
primarily to protect explosive ordnance disposal teams, not to transport
troops or to chase Iraqi insurgents." ... "Even as the Pentagon balked
at buying MRAPs for U.S. troops, USA TODAY found that the military pushed
to buy them for a different fighting force: the Iraqi army." ... "On Dec.
22, 2004 — two weeks after [Republican] President Bush told families of
servicemembers that "we're doing everything we possibly can to protect
your loved ones" — a U.S. Army general solicited ideas for an armored vehicle
for the Iraqis." ... "One reason officials put off buying MRAPs in significant
quantities: They never expected the war to last this long. Bush set the
tone on May 1, 2003, six weeks after the U.S. invasion, when he declared
on board the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln that "major combat operations
in Iraq have ended."" -By Peter Eisler, Blake Morrison
and Tom Vanden Brook -USATODAY
20070522
-
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Vehicles
- Technology
- Money
- Politics
- "Military
Dragged Feet on Bomb-Proof Vehicles (Updated Again)."
... "The Marine Corps waited over a year before acting on an "priority
1 urgent" request to send blast-resistant vehicles to Iraq, [Wired.com's]
DANGER
ROOM has learned." ... "According to a Marine Corps document
[PDF] provided to DANGER ROOM, the request for over 1,000 Mine Resistant
Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles came in February, 2005. A formal
call to fulfill that order did not emerge until November, 2006.
"There is an immediate need for an MRAP vehicle capability to increase
survivability and mobility of Marines operating in a hazardous fire area
against known threats," the 2005 "universal need statement" notes." ...
"Back then -- as now -- improvised explosive devices, or IEDs -- represented
the deadliest threat to American troops in the region. "The
expanded use" of these bombs "requires a more robust family of vehicle
capable of surviving the IED... threat," the document adds. "MRAP-designed
vehicles represent a significant increase in their survivability baseline
over existing motor vehicle equipment and will mitigate... casualties resulting
from IED[s]."" ... ""The [Marines] cannot continue to lose... serious
and grave casualties to IED[s]... when a commercial off the shelf capability
exists to mititgate [against] these threats," the request continues." ...
"Despite the stark language, however, that request was not acted upon.
Instead, the Marine Corps waited until November,
2006 to issue a formal request for proposals to buy approximately 1,200
MRAPs." -By Sharon Weinberger
-Wired
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