Letter: Add-on armor too heavy for new vehicles
Source: USA Today
Armor intended to protect the Pentagon's new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles against the most powerful roadside bombs is too heavy to use, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The add-on armor known as Frag Kit 6 could overwhelm all MRAPs unless they undergo "major redesigns," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., says in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The newly disclosed June 19 letter reveals that the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, issued an urgent request in January to require MRAPs to withstand explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). These weapons use explosives to propel a metal disc, reshaping it into a slug that can penetrate armor. U.S. commanders allege that many of the weapons come from Iran; the government of Iran denies this. The Marines made a similar request in January, USA TODAY reported in May.
Also Monday, members of Congress responded to stories published Monday in USA TODAY that showed Pentagon officials were reluctant to respond to requests to buy MRAPs. Gates recently called sending MRAPs to troops in Iraq the Pentagon's top priority.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said during a news conference he was troubled by the newspaper's findings that some Iraqi troops received the vehicles before Americans.
LinkHere
Armor intended to protect the Pentagon's new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles against the most powerful roadside bombs is too heavy to use, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The add-on armor known as Frag Kit 6 could overwhelm all MRAPs unless they undergo "major redesigns," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., says in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The newly disclosed June 19 letter reveals that the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, issued an urgent request in January to require MRAPs to withstand explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). These weapons use explosives to propel a metal disc, reshaping it into a slug that can penetrate armor. U.S. commanders allege that many of the weapons come from Iran; the government of Iran denies this. The Marines made a similar request in January, USA TODAY reported in May.
Also Monday, members of Congress responded to stories published Monday in USA TODAY that showed Pentagon officials were reluctant to respond to requests to buy MRAPs. Gates recently called sending MRAPs to troops in Iraq the Pentagon's top priority.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said during a news conference he was troubled by the newspaper's findings that some Iraqi troops received the vehicles before Americans.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 4:33 PM
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