Making good on his word that Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are the Pentagon's top priority, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked Congress to move over $1 billion to fund production, USA Today reports:
Gates asked to shift $1.3 billion to the MRAP program, said a Pentagon and a congressional official. Both officials have knowledge of the program but asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Gates said the Pentagon will announce details of the plan today.
Of that $1.3 billion, $800 million would go to the Army, while the Marines would get $500 million. That's on top of $2.4 billion in MRAP contracts announced by the Pentagon this year.
This latest move shows that once there's support in place for a program, things can move fairly quickly.
ALSO:
* Bomb-Resistant Vehicles' Long Road to Acceptance
* Picture This: MRAP Menagerie
* Armor-Makers "Risked Soldiers' Lives," Says Pentagon I.G.
* Manufacturers Can't Fill Bomb-Proof Vehicle Demand
* Which Ride Takes Bomb-Blasts Best?
* Military Dragged Feet on Bomb-Proof Vehicles
* Bomb-Proof Vehicles: Why the Delay?
* Army Junking Future for New Rides?
* Iraq's Tricked-Out Armored Cars
* Shortages for New Armored Vehicles?
* Armored Vehicle Demand Blows Up
* Marines 300, Bombers 0
* 4,100 More Armored Rides
