The military's hulking Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are credited with keeping thousands of soldiers alive during roadside bomb attacks in Iraq. But the monster trucks are second-rate at navigating Afghanistan's primitive roads. Which is why, earlier this summer, the U.S. Marine Corps put in orders for a smaller, more nimble version. Now, courtesy of Oshkosh Corporation and the Air Force, the first batch of the new blast-proof trucks, pictured here, has arrived in Afghanistan. Oshkosh scored the lucrative contract to build the new vehicles -- on condition that they could start delivering, ASAP. "In the next year, we will field thousands of these life-saving vehicles," Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday.
The initial order provided for 2,244 M-ATVs, and the Defense Department quickly upped orders for the new trucks. All told, the manufacturer has received orders for 4,296 M-ATVs, plus spare parts and maintenance -- orders worth a whopping $2.3 billion.They are supposed to be delivering up to 1,000 vehicles a month by the end of the year.
Someday, I hope, someone will write the story of how MRAPs went from an obscure piece of equipment in the Pentagon inventory to a major procurement program worth billions. In the meantime, not to forget about all those MRAP bucks, as they start designing their vehicle fleet of the future. "I remain committed to the Army’s ground-vehicle modernization program – but it has to be done in a way that reflects the lessons we’ve learned the last few years about war in the 21st century, and that incorporates the Department of Defense’s nearly $30 billion investment in MRAPs," Gates said.
[PHOTO: USAF]
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