Thread: Hey hey! Troops in Iraq might be ok!

OSHKOSH, Wis. - A new combat truck with a V-shaped bottom designed to withstand blasts from roadside bombs is performing with such success in Iraq that the U.S. military is pressing a Wisconsin company and others to churn out hundreds more in the coming months.

About 200 prototypes of the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles have been deployed in Iraq since 2004, said Capt. Jeff Landis, spokesman for the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va. No Marine has died while in one of the trucks, Landis said.
"This is the best vehicle available for safety and survivability," he said. "The MRAP vehicle supplies troops with the greatest protection we've had."
The key is the truck's V-shaped steel body, which flares like the hull of a boat, said Joaquin Salas, spokesman for Oshkosh Truck Corp.
"The shape channels the full force of a blast up the sides of the vehicle rather than through the floor," Salas said. "It's all physics. Vehicles with that shape are extremely effective."
Within the past month, the Pentagon awarded about $210 million in contracts to Oshkosh and four other companies in the U.S. and Canada to manufacture a total of nearly 400 more vehicles. Landis said the military hopes to receive them by the end of the year.
Since the war began, more than 3,160 U.S. service members have died in Iraq. Roadside bombs account for 70 percent of U.S. deaths and injuries in Iraq, according to Defense Department records and testimony.
The Pentagon has been criticized for supplying insufficient armor for Humvees, the standard vehicles used for transport. The military has since fitted thousands of Humvees with additional armor. But most of the surfaces on a Humvee's underside are flat, creating a large area that catches the force of land mine blasts.
The new vehicles also have tires that can be driven on even when flat.
Commanders in Iraq originally said the military would need 4,100 mine-resistant vehicles, but they raised their request to 6,738 in mid-February after seeing how well the trucks protected occupants, Landis said. Those requests are subject to approval by Congress.
In addition to Oshkosh, the other contractors are Protected Vehicles Inc. of North Charleston, S.C.; Force Protections Industries in Ladson, S.C.; BAE Systems in Washington; and General Dynamics Land Systems in Ontario, Canada.
The trucks come in three categories, from the small — a 7-ton truck that holds six passengers — to the colossal — a 22 1/2-ton mammoth that carries 12 passengers. By comparison, General Motors' Hummer H3 weighs about 3 tons and a military tank around 71 tons.
Despite the new trucks' protective strength, military officials said they do not believe they will completely displace lighter, more maneuverable vehicles.



Pentagon orders mine-resistant trucks - Yahoo! News

Israel’s Rafael wins contract to supply 60 new Golan multipurpose armored vehicles to US Marine Corps in Iraq

March 6, 2007, 12:56 PM

Golan - an Israeli answer to terrorist warfare
The Golan, developed in partnership with US PVI and the Israeli Merkava tank program, can withstand armor-piercing machine gun and rocket fire as well as mines and medium IED bomb blasts.

Designed for asymmetric (terrorist, guerrilla) warfare, the Golan was first tested in Sep. 2006, shortly after the Lebanon War.

The versatile wheeled vehicle carries up to 10 troops in a highly protected environment and can be adapted as a fighting vehicle, mobile command post or ambulance. Fifty percent of the carrier’s 15-ton weight is dedicated to protection. The V shaped hull has a "floating floor" panel to cushion the blast effects of mines. The basic design can come with extra “plug-ins” such as counter sniper systems and reactive armor or a remotely controlled weapon station.

The $37m deal is part of the US program to purchase 40,000 armored vehicles.


Seems we do get somethng from Israel after all.

Originally Posted by The_Bear

OSHKOSH, Wis. - A new combat truck with a V-shaped bottom designed to withstand blasts from roadside bombs is performing with such success in Iraq that the U.S. military is pressing a Wisconsin company and others to churn out hundreds more in the coming months.

About 200 prototypes of the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles have been deployed in Iraq since 2004, said Capt. Jeff Landis, spokesman for the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va. No Marine has died while in one of the trucks, Landis said.
"This is the best vehicle available for safety and survivability," he said. "The MRAP vehicle supplies troops with the greatest protection we've had."
The key is the truck's V-shaped steel body, which flares like the hull of a boat, said Joaquin Salas, spokesman for Oshkosh Truck Corp.
"The shape channels the full force of a blast up the sides of the vehicle rather than through the floor," Salas said. "It's all physics. Vehicles with that shape are extremely effective."
Within the past month, the Pentagon awarded about $210 million in contracts to Oshkosh and four other companies in the U.S. and Canada to manufacture a total of nearly 400 more vehicles. Landis said the military hopes to receive them by the end of the year.
Since the war began, more than 3,160 U.S. service members have died in Iraq. Roadside bombs account for 70 percent of U.S. deaths and injuries in Iraq, according to Defense Department records and testimony.
The Pentagon has been criticized for supplying insufficient armor for Humvees, the standard vehicles used for transport. The military has since fitted thousands of Humvees with additional armor. But most of the surfaces on a Humvee's underside are flat, creating a large area that catches the force of land mine blasts.
The new vehicles also have tires that can be driven on even when flat.
Commanders in Iraq originally said the military would need 4,100 mine-resistant vehicles, but they raised their request to 6,738 in mid-February after seeing how well the trucks protected occupants, Landis said. Those requests are subject to approval by Congress.
In addition to Oshkosh, the other contractors are Protected Vehicles Inc. of North Charleston, S.C.; Force Protections Industries in Ladson, S.C.; BAE Systems in Washington; and General Dynamics Land Systems in Ontario, Canada.
The trucks come in three categories, from the small — a 7-ton truck that holds six passengers — to the colossal — a 22 1/2-ton mammoth that carries 12 passengers. By comparison, General Motors' Hummer H3 weighs about 3 tons and a military tank around 71 tons.
Despite the new trucks' protective strength, military officials said they do not believe they will completely displace lighter, more maneuverable vehicles.



Pentagon orders mine-resistant trucks - Yahoo! News

525k per vehicle, what a bargain.

If they'll protect our troops, no price is too high.

Originally Posted by Ptolemy I

If they'll protect our troops, no price is too high.

Bringing them home would save us all a buck.