Gates urges ramping up MRAP acquisition

Gates urges ramping up MRAP acquisition
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 9, 2007 10:13:28 EDT

Describing the current situation on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan as “urgent,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is calling upon to Pentagon and service leaders to buy and field more Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles as soon as possible.

A May 2 letter from Gates to top Pentagon officials says “the MRAP should be considered the highest priority Department of Defense acquisition program,” and calls for the immediate application of “any and all options to accelerate the production and fielding of this capability.”

In service since 2003 in Afghanistan and 2004 in Iraq, MRAP vehicles have successfully withstood more than 2,000 Improvised Explosive Device attacks, according to MRAP manufacturer Force Protection. The total joint-service requirement for the V-shaped hull, blast-resistant vehicles is 7,700, according to Marine Corps Systems Command. The total value is estimated at $8 billion. The largest MRAP order to date was announced April 23, when 1,000 MRAPs were awarded to Force Protection — maker of the Buffalo and Cougar vehicles — in a $481 million deal, according to SysCom.

SysCom has awarded test contracts to nine different vehicle makers, most of whom have submitted MRAP vehicles for testing at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. The blast testing involves exploding bombs and mines beneath the vehicles and simulating the IED-type threats the vehicles are likely to encounter in Iraq and Afghanistan. The requirements for the vehicles were carefully vetted by battle-savvy commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan, said SysCom officials. The blast testing is preparing the way for larger MRAP contract awards to follow in the coming months, according to SysCom.

Gates’ letter — sent to Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace; Navy Secretary Donald Winter; Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren; Ken Krieg, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics; and Tina Jonas, undersecretary of defense (comptroller) — seeks to make sure the MRAPs are funded.

“I would like to know what funding, material, program, legal or other limits currently constrains the program and options available to overcome them,” Gates wrote.

Members of Congress have wondered why more MRAPs were not being ordered sooner. In the House of Representatives Airland Subcommittee’s 2008 budget markup, $4.1 billion was allocated for MRAPs.

Gates’ letter also ponders why the Army and Marine Corps seem to have different plans for the MRAP.

“I am also concerned with the wide variance in approach on the use of this capability between the Marine Corps and the Army,” Gates wrote.

The Marine Corps has indicated an interest in replacing current Humvees in Iraq with the smaller version of the MRAP vehicles, a step which could lead toward replacing the entire Humvee fleet, Marine Corps officials said. The Army has not indicated similar plans.

Ellie