(Army Times) Editorial: No more bulk for MRAPs

No more bulk for MRAPs

Defense officials have once again whipped out the checkbook and bought into the idea of an indestructible transport vehicle that meets every need.

Force Protection Inc., a South Carolina company that builds armored vehicles, announced on Dec. 17 that it was awarded a $30 million contract to provide additional armor plating for about 200 MRAPs, the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles developed to counter roadside bombs. In April, the Defense Department inked a similar deal with Navistar International worth $261 million.

The extra armor is needed to stop explosively formed penetrators, bombs that sling a molten slug through most armor.

The new defense: foot-thick armor plates that will add 5,000 additional pounds to the vehicles.

Trouble is, MRAPs are already too heavy. Most war-zone roads can’t support 20-ton vehicles, and MRAPs aren’t safe off-road.


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