I.E.D. Kills <strike>First</strike> Soldier in Bomb-Resistant Vehicle (Updated)

It was bound to happen. No matter how much armor you encase yourself in, there's always a bigger bomb to blow that shield open. So it's not exactly a surprise the US military has announced, for the first time (see update below), that an improvised explosive device has killed an American soldier inside one of its new, heavily-armored vehicles.

“Unfortunately we knew our time would probably come,” the soldier's commanding officer told the New York Times. “It was just a very, very big amount of explosives. You can break anything with a big enough hammer.”

The American armed forces have been increasingly turning to these Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, to keep themselves from getting killed by roadside bombs. Last spring, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the MRAPs the Defense Department's "highest priority." In Iraq, soldier after soldier told me stories about how the vehicles had saved their lives.

But the vehicles were never going to be a perfect defense, as we've said over and over and over and over again here. There is no perfect defense -- even with the MRAP's bomb-deflecting hull and explosive-resistant construction. In fact, several MRAPs have been totaled before -- it's just that troops walked away from the blasts.

In certain circles, this attack may be used as fodder to get the armed forces to tone down its massive MRAP orders. But the issue, it seems to me, is whether the vehicles are actually maneuverable enough for Iraq -- not whether or not they're impervious.

That said, even in this big attack, the MRAP seems to have held up fairly well.

Officers on the scene noted that he [the soldier killed] was the member of the crew most exposed, and that the vehicle’s secure inner compartment was not compromised and appeared to have done its job by protecting the three other crew members inside. “The crew compartment is intact,” said Capt.
Michael Fritz. He said the blast would have been large enough “to take out” a heavily armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

Which is still pretty impressive.

By the way, the *Times *article has a pair of minor screw-ups:

1.* "The military has been careful to point out that the new vehicle is not impervious to attack, and that a sufficiently powerful bomb can destroy any vehicle. Still, a forensic team was flown in immediately to inspect the charred wreckage, from which wires and tangled metal protruded, to determine whether the bombing had revealed a design flaw." *

Um, forensic teams now go in after just about every bomb attack -- even ones on Iraqi vehicles. That's been the case for a while.

2.* "Colonel Adgie, the battalion commander... said initial examination suggested a 'deep-buried I.E.D.,' which was there for some time, rather than one set off by remote control." *

Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

UPDATE: Was this really the first MRAP death? As we noted back in April, Iraqi insurgents have been trumpeting their ability to take out RG-31 "Nyala" minesweepers. At least two soldiers were killed in the vehicles in early 2007.

I was under the impression -- and apparently, so were American military spokespeople -- that the RG-31s weren't MRAPs, technically. But David Axe and the Worldwide Standard's Bill Roggio have convinced me otherwise, especially with evidence like this.

Also, several folks are saying that the MRAP hit yesterday was not a Force Protection Cougar (as originally pictured) but a Navistar Maxxpro. These e-mailers note that the 1st Battalion of the 30th Infantry Regiment uses Maxxpros, not Cougars. Which is good enough for me to swap the pic.

ALSO:

* Armored Rides Too Big for Iraq?
* Marines Get Wise, Tone Down MRAP Order
* Future Humvee vs. "Laws of Physics"
* Big Armored Vehicles' Big Surprise
* Congress Raps Pentagon on Bomb-Resistant Vehicles
* Report: Pentagon Going Overboard on MRAPs
* Take Your V-Shaped Hull and Shove It
* MRAP v Superbombs
* MRAP V Superbomb: Round 2
* How Much for the Girl -- I Mean, MRAP?
* MRAP Delivery Estimates Cut Over Half
* [Congress Moves to Protect MRAP Whistleblower](https://more-deals.info/defense/2007/09/congress-moves-.html#previouspost)%3Cbr/%3E* Iraq Diary: Sleep Through Those Bombs
* MRAP Delivery Estimates Cut by Over Half
* General: reporters are a risk to MRAPs
* MRAP lawsuit!
* MRAP contenders whittled down
* How to build a bazillion MRAPs
* Bomb-Fighting Vehicles Bite the Dust
* Bomb-Resistant Vehicles' Long Road to Acceptance
* Picture This: MRAP Menagerie
* Armor-Makers "Risked Soldiers' Lives," Says Pentagon I.G.
* Shortages for New Armored Vehicles?
* Manufacturers Can't Fill Bomb-Proof Vehicle Demand
* Which Ride Takes Bomb-Blasts Best?
* Military Dragged Feet on Bomb-Proof Vehicles
* Marines 300, Insurgents 0
* Bomb-Proof Vehicles: Why the Delay?
* Army Junking Future for New Rides?
* Armored Vehicle Demand Blows Up