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Oshkosh Corp. won a $1.06 billion Army contract to build new, off-road terrain vehicles to outfit ground forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said late Tuesday.
The Pentagon is fast-tracking a multibillion-dollar competition to outfit ground forces in Afghanistan with new, off-road terrain vehicles that protect against rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices.
The Marine Corps left troops in Iraq vulnerable to deadly roadside bombs by failing to answer an urgent request from battlefield commanders for blast-resistant vehicles, according to an internal Pentagon investigation obtained by The Associated Press. Acquisition officials shelved the February 2005 request for the "MRAPs" (pronounced EM-raps) after Marine leaders decided armored versions of the Humvee were the best answer to the improvised explosive devices that became the signature weapon of the Iraq war. However, the beefier Humvees proved incapable of withstanding the increasingly powerful IEDs.
NUMBERS: About 7,000 of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles are in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least that many more are being built at a total cost of more than $22 billion.
The towering trucks that give U.S. troops the best protection against roadside bombs and enemy bullets also make them vulnerable to routine hazards like sharp turns, rutted roads and rickety bridges.
A Feb. 18 story by The Associated Press reported that two senators were urging the Pentagon to investigate allegations that the Marine Corps refused an urgent request from battlefield commanders in 2005 for blast-resistant vehicles.
Two senators are urging the Pentagon to investigate a Marine Corps report that bureaucrats refused an urgent request from battlefield commanders in 2005 for blast-resistant vehicles. "We need an official investigation to figure out why this happened and to make sure it never happens again," said Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., D-Del.
Hundreds of U.S. Marines have been killed or injured by roadside bombs in Iraq because Marine Corps bureaucrats refused an urgent request in 2005 from battlefield commanders for blast-resistant vehicles, an internal military study concludes.
I asked my guide in the back seat where to park as I swung my 19-ton "MRAP" by the plant where the massive military trucks are made. "Anywhere you want," said Mike Aldrich, a vice president at Force Protection Inc., a company that builds the vehicles.
Afghan insurgents make wreckage of U.S. armored vehiclesTaliban -led insurgents in Afghanistan have devised ways to cripple and even destroy the expensive armored vehicles that offer U.S. forces the best protection against roadside bombs by using increasingly large explosive charges and rocket-propelled grenades, according to U.S.
DoD News Briefing with Maj. Gen. Schloesser From AfghanistanBRYAN WHITMAN (Pentagon spokesman): General, thank you for joining us this morning. I think you're well known by this crowd, but this is Major General Jeffrey Schloesser, who is the commander of the Combined Joint Task Force 101 in Afghanistan.
The success of the home-made bomb"Every month up to 300 improvised explosive devices are detonated somewhere in the world — and that's outside Iraq and Afghanistan. Billions are being spent to find the technology to beat the home-made bomb — but the terrorists are always one step ahead"
MRAPs running strong in north Saturday afternoon found Chief Warrant Officer 4 Rodney Crow in search of a broken down MRAP. A reporter had asked the 10th Brigade Support Battalion maintenance technician for help finding photos of soldiers working on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.
2 more U.S. soldiers' deaths in Iraq raise doubts about MRAP vehicleWASHINGTON — The deaths of two U.S. soldiers in western Baghdad last week have sparked concerns that Iraqi insurgents have developed a new weapon capable of striking what the U.S.
Bureaucrats' "Gross Mismanagement" Blamed for 100's of Marines' DeathsBush always said that he listens to his Gen'ls....Can you hear me now? An urgent February 2005 request for MRAPs got lost in bureaucracy. It was signed by then-Brig. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, who asked for 1,169 of the vehicles.
AP story on MRAP delay shows need for good journalism, whistleblowersAn Associated Press story about a leaked internal study that accuses the Marine Corps of delays in providing mine-resistant vehicles to its forces in Iraq provides ample reason why good journalism is a social and political must, government whistleblowers ought to be fully protect …
Vehicle delay blamed for Marines' deaths - Yahoo! NewsWASHINGTON - Hundreds of U.S. Marines have been killed or injured by roadside bombs in Iraq because Marine Corps bureaucrats refused an urgent request in 2005 from battlefield commanders for blast-resistant vehicles, an internal military study concludes. ADVERTISEMENT
Pentagon orders 3,000 mine-resistant armored vehicles - Yahoo! NewsWASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon said Wednesday it has ordered more than 3,100 new mine-resistant armored vehicles worth some 2.6 billion dollars, with the aim of eventually owning a fleet of more than 15,000.
Overstretched US cuts aid to Israel -- Will Use Funds To Get Mine Resistant Vehicles Into IraqAmerica has been forced to withhold funding from its key ally in the Middle East amid the strain of paying for its expensive military campaign in Iraq. Washington had promised Israel a substantial increase in its financial support to bolster it against Iran.
Soldiers are dying in Humvees in Iraq in sufficient numbers that Marine Corps and Army officials are petitioning Congress for extra money for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), at about $1 million per pop. In 2004, an armored Humvee cost $150,000.
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