Odierno: Army will need fewer MRAPs as troop levels in Iraq decrease

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Odierno: Army will need fewer MRAPs as troop levels in Iraq decrease
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, December 12, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. soldiers in Iraq will need fewer Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles as troop levels drop next year, said Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, head of Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

The Army has been allocated 10,000 of the vehicles, known as MRAPs, which have V-shaped hulls to deflect blasts from underneath and have proven to withstand blasts much better than up-armored Humvees.

But the vehicles are also unwieldy and cannot operate off-road, in confined spaces, and they cannot cross many bridges.

On Monday, USA Today first reported that Odierno said the Army likely would not need as many MRAPs as originally thought.

"The number of brigades will reduce in the coming months and that reduces the need for the original higher number," Odierno said in a statement e-mailed to Stars and Stripes on Monday.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50900