The Bad News About the MRAP-ATV
| Tue Oct. 27, 2009 7:42 AM PDT
Today's war photo of the day is of a brand-new mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicles (MRAP-ATV or M-ATV) sitting at Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan. The very first M-ATVs designated for use in Southern Afghanistan arrived last Thursday, October 22. (The first batch of M-ATVs arrived earlier this month.) Think about that for a minute. It's taken eight years to start getting US soldiers in Afghanistan vehicles that can both protect them from roadside bombs and maneuver on the country's rough terrain. The good news, according to defense secretary Robert Gates, is that thousands more M-ATVs will arrive in theater over the next year. But you have to wonder how many lives could have been saved if the military had prioritized fighting the current war (instead of building F-22s for the next war) back in 2001, and you have to wonder whether all this effort is coming too late.
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"You go to war with the army
Submitted by Brian Gallagher (not verified) on Tue Oct. 27, 2009 2:54 PM PDT.
"You go to war with the army you have." -Don Rumsfeld
Back in 1993, Humvees were shot to pieces in Somalia. A vital lesson was not learned: Humvees are not armored vehicles. A Brinks armored car delivering cash to your local bank would have been better.
There was a best-selling book written about this: Blackhawk Down.
There was a blockbuster movie made: Blackhawk Down.
The fact that Humvees are vulnerable to light weapons and RPGs was something people paid money to go learn at the movie theater.
So what did the best and the brightest do about it? Nothing. It wasn't on their radar screen because they do not give a shit about soldiers unless it hurts their ratings.
Corporations get everlasting financial life while the human persons involved get band-aids, but only if business-as-usual is threatened.
And to think that Rumsfeld's "Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA) called for a lighter, leaner fighting force. Rumsfeld et al. clearly don't understand that the DoD is an occupation bureau and armies of occupation need heavy armor. Maybe not heavy weapons, but definitely heavy armor.
The article states, "Think
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Oct. 28, 2009 3:52 AM PDT.
The article states, "Think about that for a minute. It's taken eight years to start getting US soldiers in Afghanistan vehicles that can both protect them from roadside bombs and maneuver on the country's rough terrain. The good news, according to defense secretary Robert Gates, is that thousands more M-ATVs will arrive in theater over the next year."
Just to chime in and clarify, on behalf of the OEM manufacturers, the first MRAPS were not even ordered until 2007, and deliveries started later that year. The M-ATV is a new vehicle, put on contract to Oshkosh earlier this year, and they are delivering them well ahead of schedule already.
So, in reality, it took six years to get a decision and less than one year to get a protected vehicle on the ground (which is a HUGE feat, in and of itself).
Just to clarify and to tout how quickly the private sector has answered the nations call for these vehicles, because, if you do not know, usually, putting a vehicle together, thru development, production, and on to the ground for the troops takes years and years (about 10).
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