Army selects three companies to build MRAPs

[unhappycamper]

Army selects three companies to build MRAPs
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 18, 2007 5:43:25 EDT

The Army has awarded contracts for producing more than 8,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to three vendors, selected from a list of six companies and teams that submitted vehicles for testing.

The Army is expected to announce the names of the companies by the end of this week, according to an Army officer with knowledge of the acquisition process who spoke on the condition that he remain anonymous.

The production of up to 8,700 MRAPs will be paid for with the $5.2 billion contained in the current continuing resolution, he said, which will affect other Army projects, such as military construction, which rely on those funds to keep projects moving until the budget is signed.

The Army was going to purchase 17,000 MRAPs because of requirements identified by commanders in Iraq who wanted to replace each Humvee in the war zone. That number, however, was lowered to 10,000 in September, and may change again depending on the vehicle’s performance in country, according to Claude Bolton, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, technology and logistics.

In the past year, 375 MRAPs have been shipped to Iraq, including 42 of the 14-ton, four-wheel-drive Category I MRAPs and 13 of the 24-ton, six-wheel-drive Category II MRAPs.

The two-month contest for the MRAP II contract that closed Oct. 1, the first day of fiscal 2008, procured vehicles that could move faster, offer better protection for troops against lethal projectiles, such as explosively formed penetrators, and have a capacity to carry more armor than the varieties that emerged in the past year.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/army_mrapcontract_071017w/



uhc comment: MRAPs cost about $1,000,000 a pop. Would someone please explain to me how the fuck we are going to buy 8,700 MRAPs with $5,200,000,000? Conservative math?

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Armored Vehicles

~snip~

The total procurement of MRAPs for all services could surpass 20,000 units, with an estimated procurement cost above $10 billion. However, the MRAP life cycle cost is expected to rise significantly above that level, due to the need for frequent damage repair resulting from high operational tempo and frequent battle damage. Some estimates value the program's life cycle cost at about $20 billion. The up armored Humvees proved vulnerable in Iraq and Afghanistan, resulting in the growing demand for vehicles that could better withstand roadside bomb blasts.

~snip~

The initial joint services program, was expected to cost over US$2 billion is being managed by the US Marine Corps. However, given the poor performance of lightly armored vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, the realistic requirement for MRAP rose to over 7,700 vehicles, worth an approximate $8.4 billion. Some 3,700 MRAPS will go to the USMC while the Army plans to buy 2,500. The Army is expected to get much more than what it currently plans, as priorities are changed and additional funding allocated. MRAP is the "highest priority Department of Defense acquisition program," Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in a memo sent in early May 2007 to the secretaries of the Army and Navy. Current forecasts based on urgent requirements directed by the Department of Defense, call for the rapid acquisition of 17,000 - 20,000 heavily armored MRAP vehicles, replacing protected HMMWV currently operating in theater. Despite the demand, manufacturers are producing the vehicles at full capacity and it is doubtful if they can increase production further in the near term.

Which is it, suckers? $500,000 or $1,000,000 a pop?


Billions Needed for New Armored Trucks


Oh, by the way. . .

We're shipping these things to Iraq on C-5 Galaxy aircraft. --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=259x4849