Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Mine-resistant 'MRAP's called 'four-to-five' times safer than Humvees for U.S. forces
World Tribune ^ | Monday, May 14, 2007

Posted on 05/14/2007 2:48:11 PM PDT by BradtotheBone

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration plans to accelerate deliveries of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles for the U.S. military in Iraq. Officials said not one Marine has been killed during 300 IED attacks on MRAPs. They said MRAP's raised, V-shaped underbelly deflected the force of IEDs. In all, the Marines have deployed 65 MRAPs in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said MRAP offered improved troop protection over up-armored Humvees. Gates said MRAP would replace armored Humvees, particularly in the Marine Corps.

"Our experience is that Marines in these vehicles have been four or five times safer than a Marine in an armored Humvee," Gates told members of the House and Senate Sea Power and Expeditionary Forces subcommittees on May 10. "Based on this experience, we recently decided to replace our armored Humvees in theater on a one-for-one basis with MRAPs."

"My understanding is that the army has been recalibrating its interest and has substantially increased the number of these vehicles they think they can use," Gates said.

Officials said the US. military has ordered 7,700 MRAPs in an $8 billion project. Gates has met U.S. Army and Marine Corps officials to explore ways to accelerate deliveries of the 16-ton vehicles.

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said MRAP was the result of defense industrial cooperation with the military. But he warned that the vehicle — which has been criticized for its huge size — would not provide full protection against IEDs.

"There's no solution out there that's going to protect everybody from everything all the time," Pace said. "What you try to do is provide the best protection you can that still allows a soldier [or] Marine to be able to go out and do the job they need to do."

U.S. commanders have urged the Pentagon to increase troop levels to fight the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. On May 11, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, the U.S. commander in northern Iraq, asserted that his 3,500 troops were insufficient to quell the insurgency in the Diyala province north of Baghdad.

Mixon, citing a request to Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said the additional troops would be used in the counter-insurgency offensive in Diyala. Diyala also contains 10,000 Iraq Army troops.

"I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala province to get that security situation moving," Mixon told a Pentagon briefing.

In rare criticism by a U.S. commander, Mixon said the Iraqi government was not supplying services, which he said was vital in any effort to weaken the insurgents. Mixon said the Diyal government was no longer functioning.

"They are overburdened by a centralized bureaucratic process from Baghdad and impacted by corruption and sectarian issues," Mixon said. "These are areas that we must improve on over the next several months."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: buffalo; cheetah; cougar; iraq; mrap; uparmormedhumvee; wheeledarmor
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last

1 posted on 05/14/2007 2:48:14 PM PDT by BradtotheBone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone

2 posted on 05/14/2007 2:50:06 PM PDT by Teflonic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Teflonic

Where is the nearest dealership?


3 posted on 05/14/2007 2:51:28 PM PDT by gathersnomoss
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone
Many different kinds of them. Here's a few.


4 posted on 05/14/2007 2:53:15 PM PDT by Dumpster Baby ("Hope somebody finds me before the rats do .....")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration plans to accelerate deliveries of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles for the U.S. military in Iraq. Officials said not one Marine has been killed during 300 IED attacks on MRAPs. They said MRAP's raised, V-shaped underbelly deflected the force of IEDs. In all, the Marines have deployed 65 MRAPs in Iraq.

Excellent news - Whatever means necessary should be happening 24/7 to get as many MRAPs over there as possible. GOv't is so inefficient at times it is still mind boggling...

5 posted on 05/14/2007 2:53:25 PM PDT by SevenMinusOne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Teflonic

That gun turret looks pretty exposed.


6 posted on 05/14/2007 2:54:43 PM PDT by bnelson44 (http://www.appealforcourage.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Teflonic

If John Corzine had riden in one of thise, he’d be working out of the governor’s mansion instead of from home!


7 posted on 05/14/2007 2:55:00 PM PDT by llevrok (Truth is the enemy of the lie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: DevSix

Where’s the funding coming from?


8 posted on 05/14/2007 2:55:30 PM PDT by bnelson44 (http://www.appealforcourage.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Teflonic

WOW - what a beast.

I’d hate to be a bad guy and see that rolling my way.

Full of our troops....


9 posted on 05/14/2007 2:55:50 PM PDT by Jake The Goose
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: archy; Gringo1; Matthew James; Fred Mertz; Squantos; colorado tanker; The Shrew; SLB; Darksheare; ..

Treadhead ping.

Even though there aren’t any treads, I thought there’s enough armor to more than make this of interest.

BTW, the treadhead graphic is MIA. I can host it, if someone has it.


10 posted on 05/14/2007 2:57:06 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone

Sounds/looks like a great vehicle. Hope we get them deployed FAST! Just watch, now the latest RAT talking point will be that the eviiilll Bush/Cheney cabal did not have 20,000 of these on hand four years ago. Of course, no one in the MSM will bother to ask why RATs in Congress, not to mention the Clintonistas who were in power for 8 years, never bothered to provide such equipment for the troops they claim to care about. If the RATs always have such foresight, why did the Clintonistas waste 8 years without even producing modest amounts of body armor, not to mention up-armored Humvees and now these latest and greatest...... oh, I forget, being a RAT means never having to say you´re sorry!


11 posted on 05/14/2007 2:57:42 PM PDT by Enchante (Reid and Pelosi Defeatocrats: Surrender Now - Peace for Our Time!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Teflonic
Yeah, I want one too!!
12 posted on 05/14/2007 3:02:32 PM PDT by GoldCountryRedneck ("The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration."- unknown)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone
Our experience is that Marines in these vehicles have been four or five times safer than a Marine in an armored Humvee,"

mohammedans will just build IED's 4-5 times more powerful.

13 posted on 05/14/2007 3:05:09 PM PDT by fso301
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone

14 posted on 05/14/2007 3:09:33 PM PDT by Gone_Postal (Communism works only in Heaven, where they don’t need it, and in Hell, where they’ve already got)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone
Too damn bad the liberal “hate America” crowd won’t release the tax dollars necessary to purchase these much needed vehicles!
15 posted on 05/14/2007 3:10:00 PM PDT by paratrooper82 (82 Airborne 1/508th BN "fury from the sky")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dumpster Baby

What do you suppose the ramps are for on the “IED” photo? The ones right above the front fenders.


16 posted on 05/14/2007 3:22:44 PM PDT by scan59 (History repeats.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: BradtotheBone
Officials said not one Marine has been killed during 300 IED attacks on MRAPs... "Our experience is that Marines in these vehicles have been four or five times safer than a Marine in an armored Humvee,"

That doesn't make sense. These numbers have been cooked.
17 posted on 05/14/2007 3:25:58 PM PDT by xenophiles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dumpster Baby

Needs more wheels....


18 posted on 05/14/2007 3:28:01 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The DemonicRATS believe ....that the best decisions are always made after the fact.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: DevSix
Whatever means necessary should be happening 24/7 to get as many MRAPs over there as possible. GOv't is so inefficient at times it is still mind boggling...

You are so correct.

We are the USA. We should be able to produce, and deploy, at least a few hundred more MRAP's by years end, if not sooner.

19 posted on 05/14/2007 3:28:41 PM PDT by technomage (You get what you want one step at a time)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: xenophiles

Why? The Marine Corps has more than 100 MRAP vehicles on the ground in Iraq.


20 posted on 05/14/2007 3:28:58 PM PDT by bnelson44 (http://www.appealforcourage.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson