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Fall will be crucial time for MRAP project

The Pentagon should know by September how many Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles it will need for troops in Iraq, the head of the new armored vehicle task force told Congress on Thursday.

John Young told members of two House Armed Services subcommittees that the Pentagon has ordered 6,415 of the so-called MRAP vehicles. By September, after production has increased, the Pentagon will know how many it can build in 2008, he said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress on Tuesday for an additional $1.2 billion to speed MRAP production.

“The secretary of Defense has made MRAP his top priority,” Young said.

Commanders in Iraq who will have used MRAPs by September will also tell Pentagon planners how many more of the vehicles they need, Young said.

September is also the deadline for Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to report back to Congress about progress made by the latest Iraq security plan.

The Army now has about 500 MRAPs in Iraq; the Marines have about 200. They’re used to clear routes and for bomb-disposal teams.

None has been used yet for routine combat missions.

That pace didn’t satisfy Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., who chaired the subcommittee meeting. He said the Pentagon still isn’t moving fast enough to get MRAPs to Iraq.

“If it’s just a matter of money, let’s fix it,” Taylor said.

The Pentagon, Taylor said, should replace each of its 18,000 Humvees in Iraq with MRAPs.

Soldiers in Iraq need MRAPs more than anything else, said Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes. He recently assessed Army needs in Iraq and met with Petraeus and other top generals.

Taylor has criticized the pace of the Pentagon’s efforts to field the vehicles. Their raised chassis and V-shaped hull help them deflect the force of improvised explosive devices, the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.

“This is not just another hearing on a Defense Department program experiencing difficulties in cost and schedule,” Taylor said. “This is a hearing concerning the life and death of our soldiers, sailors and Marines in combat.”

He also mentioned a story in Monday’s USA Today that detailed how the Pentagon delayed obtaining the vehicles, which are more than twice as safe as armored Humvees.

“I was absolutely appalled at how long it has taken to make MRAPs a priority,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., introduced an amendment that would boost MRAP spending by $25 billion in 2008.

Most of the money would be spent on MRAPs for the Army, allowing it to replace each of its Humvees with the new armored vehicles.

The amendment is costly, Biden said in a statement submitted with his amendment, but necessary.

“I’m willing to waste money and equipment if it means we don’t waste lives and limbs,” Biden said.