thedrifter
04-30-07, 07:47 AM
Do MRAPs today mean JLTV delay?
By Kimberly Johnson - kjohnson@militarytimes.com
Posted : May 07, 2007
The Corps’ surge in orders for blast-proof vehicles could eventually cut into its plans for the Pentagon’s Humvee replacement, according to a top defense analyst.
The service is boosting its order for the blast-proof Mine Resistant Ambush Protected troop carriers by another 1,000, increasing the total number of vehicles requested by the four services and special operations forces to 7,700. In the meantime, the services are working on the Humvee replacement, known as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, scheduled for production in 2012.
“MRAP cannot be a full substitute for JLTV. However, because [MRAP] is needed urgently in large numbers, it could result in a delay in the JLTV acquisition strategy,” said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute.
Immediately following the Corps’ April 23 announcement that it had ordered more MRAPs, questions surrounding the impact of the service’s fast-tracked acquisition strategy on the JLTV emerged on Capitol Hill.
“Do you think we could add all of the communications equipment that we need on the MRAP that we anticipate being on the [JLTV] in the future?” asked Rep. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., during a House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing April 24. “Can you give us your judgment, briefly, as to why we can’t just incorporate that in the MRAP also and avoid waiting for the JLTV?”
“It’s really a different vehicle that is being planned for the JLTV with different requirements,” responded Delores Etter, assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition.
The bulky MRAP will only take the Corps so far, Lt. Gen. Emerson Gardner, deputy commandant for programs and resources, told lawmakers. “We see the MRAP as a niche vehicle. Its capability is going to help us tremendously against current [roadside bomb] threats,” Gardner said. “But the JLTV is where we want to get to.”
While the MRAP — with its raised, V-shaped hull — enhances survivability on the battlefield, it is not an expeditionary vehicle, is not compatible with ships and is very large and heavy, Gardner said.
JLTV smaller, lighter
“We are establishing [JLTV] requirements now ... but it is our intent to get as much of the same [MRAP] capability within a smaller, lighter vehicle as we can,” he added. “That's going to take long to produce. It does not exist today.”
“The main tenets of performance for the JLTV include mobility, speed, payload capacity and transportability,” said Bill Johnson-Miles, a spokesman for Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico, Va. “With that in mind, we will need a JLTV that provides better protection than the current up-armored [Humvee] without sacrificing performance.”
But unlike an up-armored Humvee, the JLTV will have improvements, such as greater protection against mines, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, a larger payload and improved acceleration, he said.
While Corps officials insist the JLTV — not the MRAP — will fulfill its expeditionary requirement, the service is looking to the latter as a Humvee-like battlefield staple that can be used right now in Iraq. In March, Commandant Gen. James Conway told the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he wanted every leatherneck traveling outside the wire in Iraq to ride in an MRAP.
The drive to standardize the bulkier MRAP in Iraq raises the larger issue of how the Corps’ resources are being used, analyst Thompson said.
“Marines are supposed to be a light, fast response force. They’re being asked to wage a different kind of war in Iraq,” he said. “You could argue that the answer to the problem the Marine Corps is facing in Iraq is to have a bigger Army [presence], rather than [continue as] an occupational force waging counterinsurgency warfare.”
Ellie
By Kimberly Johnson - kjohnson@militarytimes.com
Posted : May 07, 2007
The Corps’ surge in orders for blast-proof vehicles could eventually cut into its plans for the Pentagon’s Humvee replacement, according to a top defense analyst.
The service is boosting its order for the blast-proof Mine Resistant Ambush Protected troop carriers by another 1,000, increasing the total number of vehicles requested by the four services and special operations forces to 7,700. In the meantime, the services are working on the Humvee replacement, known as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, scheduled for production in 2012.
“MRAP cannot be a full substitute for JLTV. However, because [MRAP] is needed urgently in large numbers, it could result in a delay in the JLTV acquisition strategy,” said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute.
Immediately following the Corps’ April 23 announcement that it had ordered more MRAPs, questions surrounding the impact of the service’s fast-tracked acquisition strategy on the JLTV emerged on Capitol Hill.
“Do you think we could add all of the communications equipment that we need on the MRAP that we anticipate being on the [JLTV] in the future?” asked Rep. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., during a House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing April 24. “Can you give us your judgment, briefly, as to why we can’t just incorporate that in the MRAP also and avoid waiting for the JLTV?”
“It’s really a different vehicle that is being planned for the JLTV with different requirements,” responded Delores Etter, assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition.
The bulky MRAP will only take the Corps so far, Lt. Gen. Emerson Gardner, deputy commandant for programs and resources, told lawmakers. “We see the MRAP as a niche vehicle. Its capability is going to help us tremendously against current [roadside bomb] threats,” Gardner said. “But the JLTV is where we want to get to.”
While the MRAP — with its raised, V-shaped hull — enhances survivability on the battlefield, it is not an expeditionary vehicle, is not compatible with ships and is very large and heavy, Gardner said.
JLTV smaller, lighter
“We are establishing [JLTV] requirements now ... but it is our intent to get as much of the same [MRAP] capability within a smaller, lighter vehicle as we can,” he added. “That's going to take long to produce. It does not exist today.”
“The main tenets of performance for the JLTV include mobility, speed, payload capacity and transportability,” said Bill Johnson-Miles, a spokesman for Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico, Va. “With that in mind, we will need a JLTV that provides better protection than the current up-armored [Humvee] without sacrificing performance.”
But unlike an up-armored Humvee, the JLTV will have improvements, such as greater protection against mines, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, a larger payload and improved acceleration, he said.
While Corps officials insist the JLTV — not the MRAP — will fulfill its expeditionary requirement, the service is looking to the latter as a Humvee-like battlefield staple that can be used right now in Iraq. In March, Commandant Gen. James Conway told the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he wanted every leatherneck traveling outside the wire in Iraq to ride in an MRAP.
The drive to standardize the bulkier MRAP in Iraq raises the larger issue of how the Corps’ resources are being used, analyst Thompson said.
“Marines are supposed to be a light, fast response force. They’re being asked to wage a different kind of war in Iraq,” he said. “You could argue that the answer to the problem the Marine Corps is facing in Iraq is to have a bigger Army [presence], rather than [continue as] an occupational force waging counterinsurgency warfare.”
Ellie