thedrifter
07-18-07, 06:26 PM
Corps redirects $563M to speed MRAP delivery
By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 18, 2007 18:59:45 EDT
The Corps is pulling $563 million from low-priority programs and funneling it into blast-proof vehicles in a bid to push the vehicles out to troops faster.
The move is part of a Pentagon-wide plan to inject about $1.2 billion into production of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, which would almost double existing orders. The funds would add 2,650 vehicles to an existing Defense Department order for 3,765 MRAPs, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Wednesday.
Accelerating production will see delivery of 3,900 MRAP vehicles to the Defense Department by December, with about 3,500 of them outfitted with equipment and transported to troops in Iraq by year’s end, said John Young, director of defense research and engineering at the Pentagon and chairman of the recently formed MRAP Task Force, a group of key defense acquisition officials formed under direction of Defense Secretary Robert Gates focused on accelerating MRAP production.
The Corps has about 200 MRAPs in Iraq and expects to have at least 1,000 on the ground by year’s end, said Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant for programs and resources. “They will go to the units that are in the closest contact.”
A Corps spokesman could not immediately identify which low-priority programs would be trimmed to pay for the MRAP turbo-boost.
The Joint Requirements Oversight Council has said it wanted an all-service order of 7,774 MRAPs by the end of fiscal 2008, 3,700 of which are slated for the Corps. The Joint Staff now says it wants to buy the maximum production capacity in the near term, Young said. “That number exceeds the 7,774, and it’s the number that we’re talking about between the Joint Staff and the services as to what the theater need is and how the theater need — and possibly the long-term needs — of the services will be integrated.”
“Under our MRAP acceleration plan, the rate of MRAP production will rise from June’s production of 82 vehicles to 489 vehicles in October and roughly 1,300 per month in December,” Young said.
But adding juice to factory assembly lines has highlighted potential shortages in certain supplies, Young said.
Up until the end of June, for example, tire makers were producing about 1,000 of the heavy-load class tires used on the MRAP per month. However, because defense officials expect production to increase to 1,300 MRAPs per month by December, about 6,000 tires per month will be needed, an issue that prompted a meeting between defense officials and manufacturers, Young said.
“As a result, industry is increasing the production rate of tires, and we have worked within the government to buy those tires as fast as they can be produced,” Young said.
The MRAP Task Force has also reviewed availability of other components, such as steel, axles and engines, he added.
But Marines have not seen the last of the M114 Humvee, according to Castellaw. “I’ve got to tell you that operational requirements still trump. The up-armored Humvee will not go away. There will be operational reasons that we will want to use it in addition to the MRAP.”
“So what this does is give us a very important element in our operational tool bag that [we] would be using along with a lot of others to ensure our forces are protected,” he said.
The Corps is assessing what the MRAP’s long-range role will be for the service, Castellaw said. “We’re not exactly sure what it will be in the future.”
The funding plan was well-received on Capitol Hill, with members of Congress saying they were pleased with the prioritization of the vehicle program.
“Our commanders in Iraq estimate that MRAP vehicles could reduce casualties in vehicles from IEDs by as much as 80 percent,” said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chair of the House Armed Services Committee. “When IEDs still account for 60 percent of all casualties in theater, it is imperative that we get these vehicles delivered to the field as quickly as possible.”
Ellie
By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 18, 2007 18:59:45 EDT
The Corps is pulling $563 million from low-priority programs and funneling it into blast-proof vehicles in a bid to push the vehicles out to troops faster.
The move is part of a Pentagon-wide plan to inject about $1.2 billion into production of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, which would almost double existing orders. The funds would add 2,650 vehicles to an existing Defense Department order for 3,765 MRAPs, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Wednesday.
Accelerating production will see delivery of 3,900 MRAP vehicles to the Defense Department by December, with about 3,500 of them outfitted with equipment and transported to troops in Iraq by year’s end, said John Young, director of defense research and engineering at the Pentagon and chairman of the recently formed MRAP Task Force, a group of key defense acquisition officials formed under direction of Defense Secretary Robert Gates focused on accelerating MRAP production.
The Corps has about 200 MRAPs in Iraq and expects to have at least 1,000 on the ground by year’s end, said Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant for programs and resources. “They will go to the units that are in the closest contact.”
A Corps spokesman could not immediately identify which low-priority programs would be trimmed to pay for the MRAP turbo-boost.
The Joint Requirements Oversight Council has said it wanted an all-service order of 7,774 MRAPs by the end of fiscal 2008, 3,700 of which are slated for the Corps. The Joint Staff now says it wants to buy the maximum production capacity in the near term, Young said. “That number exceeds the 7,774, and it’s the number that we’re talking about between the Joint Staff and the services as to what the theater need is and how the theater need — and possibly the long-term needs — of the services will be integrated.”
“Under our MRAP acceleration plan, the rate of MRAP production will rise from June’s production of 82 vehicles to 489 vehicles in October and roughly 1,300 per month in December,” Young said.
But adding juice to factory assembly lines has highlighted potential shortages in certain supplies, Young said.
Up until the end of June, for example, tire makers were producing about 1,000 of the heavy-load class tires used on the MRAP per month. However, because defense officials expect production to increase to 1,300 MRAPs per month by December, about 6,000 tires per month will be needed, an issue that prompted a meeting between defense officials and manufacturers, Young said.
“As a result, industry is increasing the production rate of tires, and we have worked within the government to buy those tires as fast as they can be produced,” Young said.
The MRAP Task Force has also reviewed availability of other components, such as steel, axles and engines, he added.
But Marines have not seen the last of the M114 Humvee, according to Castellaw. “I’ve got to tell you that operational requirements still trump. The up-armored Humvee will not go away. There will be operational reasons that we will want to use it in addition to the MRAP.”
“So what this does is give us a very important element in our operational tool bag that [we] would be using along with a lot of others to ensure our forces are protected,” he said.
The Corps is assessing what the MRAP’s long-range role will be for the service, Castellaw said. “We’re not exactly sure what it will be in the future.”
The funding plan was well-received on Capitol Hill, with members of Congress saying they were pleased with the prioritization of the vehicle program.
“Our commanders in Iraq estimate that MRAP vehicles could reduce casualties in vehicles from IEDs by as much as 80 percent,” said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chair of the House Armed Services Committee. “When IEDs still account for 60 percent of all casualties in theater, it is imperative that we get these vehicles delivered to the field as quickly as possible.”
Ellie