Armored trucks on double duty - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Armored trucks on double duty

QUANTICO, Va. — The Pentagon plans to field an all-terrain armored vehicle later this year to provide off-road maneuverability and enough armor to deflect the growing threat of roadside bombs in Afghanistan.

Such a vehicle will combine the maneuverability of the Humvee, the military’s workhorse vehicle, with the protection of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) troop carrier, Pentagon documents show.

The Pentagon could buy up to 10,000 of the new trucks, which the military will need as it plans to almost double the number of troops in Afghanistan to 60,000 over the next few years. So far, the Pentagon says it will buy at least 2,080 of the new MRAPs.

There were a record 3,276 attacks from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in 2008. Those attacks killed 161 coalition troops and wounded 722.

Commanders in eastern Afghanistan are calling for the new vehicle, said Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, who heads the Pentagon’s MRAP program. Brogan declined to estimate the new vehicle’s cost, although the base price for a current MRAP is about $500,000. An armored Humvee costs about $200,000.

Brogan is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee about efforts to protect troops in combat.

Paved roads are scarce, and rutted mountain passes are common in eastern Afghanistan. Fighting with Taliban and other militants has intensified there as well. Commanders issued an urgent plea for the new truck to transport troops late last year.

“It’s a desire to get off the roads and be able to maneuver cross-country,” Brogan said, explaining why commanders want the new truck. ”That does a couple of things. First of all it increases the areas that they can maneuver and occupy. But it also significantly increases the targeting problem for the bad guys. You’re much less predictable if you can go many more places.”

Need engineering balance

The new MRAP needs to be lighter than the current weight of about 28,000 pounds. Lighter vehicles are more nimble, but heavier ones provide more protection against explosions. Brogan said he was confident they would reach the right balance.

“Developing a lighter MRAP that is just as protective will be an engineering feat, but [Defense Secretary Robert Gates] is pursuing it because that’s what’s needed in Afghanistan, where the road system is much more limited than Iraq, but the IED threat just as dangerous,” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

The military currently operates 1,608 MRAPs in Afghanistan and 9,746 in Iraq. The first of the new trucks could reach troops in Afghanistan later this year, said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Army Capt. Joshua Zaruba, who commands soldiers in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan, says his unit received its first MRAP in July. His troops prefer it to a Humvee because of the added protection. But it can get bogged down easily. They patrol rutted roads and farm fields, gravel-filled creek beds and mountain passes.

“We need an MRAP that has a lower center of gravity, that can take a beating of the rocky terrain and it needs to weigh less to reduce the risk of getting stuck,” Zaruba said by e-mail. “The problems that we are having with the current MRAP are that we get stuck in places that a lighter vehicle can go.”

Transportation costs are higher

The bill to transport new armored vehicles to protect troops from roadside bombs in Afghanistan could top $2 billion, according to military figures.

Much of the equipment needed in Afghanistan must be flown in, as the country is landlocked and has no ports. Though some supplies arrive by a hazardous ground route through Pakistan.

The military’s Transportation Command estimates that it costs $165,000 to $230,000 to fly an MRAP from the United States to Afghanistan. If the Pentagon buys 10,000 of the new trucks and flies all of them to Afghanistan, transportation costs would total $1.6 billion to $2.3 billion.