Some question need for MRAP buildup

[unhappycamper]

Too many MRAPs?
Future need for the behemoth vehicles not assured


Some question need for MRAP buildup
By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 18:17:03 EST

Grunts on the ground in Iraq can expect to see more Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles in Iraq in the coming weeks, but questions loom large as to how the Corps will use the high-priced, heavily armored vehicles once the Marines come home.

The Corps is sending another 200 of the blast-proof vehicles to Iraq by year’s end, service officials say. The shipment will bring the number of Marine MRAPs in Iraq to about 650, said 1st. Lt. Geraldine Carey, spokeswoman for Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va.

The Corps has been cleared hot by the Marine Requirement Oversight Council to order up to 3,700 vehicles, Carey added.

Although MRAP production lines are humming today, need for the behemoth vehicles tomorrow is not assured, one defense official recently told lawmakers.

“We might not need as many as we are buying. Some will be stored for a period of time,” John Young, the defense acquisition undersecretary, told House Armed Services Committee members Nov. 8.

The Defense Department intends to buy 15,000 of the vehicles for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by 2010. Vehicle manufacturers are expected to ramp up production to a level of 1,000 to 1,300 MRAPs per month in December, Young told lawmakers.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/11/marine_mra...