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Mine-proof vehicle heads $10B unfunded list

Despite a massive budget request for next year, the Army is still more than $10 billion shy of having everything it says it needs.

Topping the Army’s unfunded “wish list” for fiscal 2008 is $2.2 billion for a new Mine Resistant Ambush Protective vehicle, a short-term solution providing more protection than the current up-armored Humvee.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker outlined the list of $10.2 billion worth of unfunded requirements in a Feb. 9 memo to the House Army Services Committee.

Schoomaker’s memo came as lawmakers are reviewing the Army’s $213 billion request in the fiscal 2008 budget.

The list covers a wide range of items including:

• $1.8 billion for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles truck fleet

• $775.1 million for Stryker vehicles.

• $452.2 million to upgrade all Patriot systems with the latest PAC III missiles.

• $342.2 million for Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks.

• $207.4 million for aircraft survivability equipment.

• $190.5 million for ammunition production.

• $187.2 million for Javelin anti-armor missiles.

• $152.9 million for counter improvised explosive device systems.

• $141.5 million for Force XXI Brigade and Below equipment, which is also known as the Army’s tactical internet.

• $102 million to combat training centers like the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.

• $64.9 million for maintenance equipment.

• $56.6 billion in logistics network communications equipment.

• $49.6 million for “commercial, off-shelf” tactical radios.

• $33 million for night vision equipment.

• $25 million for explosive ordnance disposal equipment.

• $24 million for Army “Key Management System.”

• $22.4 million for cargo airdrop equipment.

• $19.9 million for tactical electric power.

• $19.8 million for M119 towed howitzers.

• $19.4 million for M240 machine guns.

• $18.8 billion in Soldier Enhancement Program items.

• $16.9 million for Light Tactical Vehicle High Mobility Trailers.

• $13.3 million for foreign language translations systems.

• $13 million for tactical bridging equipment.

• $12.3 million for field hygiene supplies.

• $10.6 billion for fire support optics.

• $6.5 million for water purification systems.

• $5.9 million for NAVSTAR global positioning systems.

• $4.7 million for construction equipment.

• $3.2 million for Rapid Equipping Force soldier support items.

• $2.8 million for artillery accuracy equipment.

• $1.7 million for M249 squad automatic weapons.

Schoomaker discussed the unfunded list at a Feb. 9 hearing before members of the House Appropriations Committee. He said it’s up to the American people to provide the Army and the rest of the military with the resources it will need to deal with the current conflict, as well as the ones that surely lay ahead.

“The fight we have today is absolutely reflective of the kinds of fights we will have in the future, and I am one who believes that there is no question that we are headed into fights in the future,” Schoomaker said.