Surge will include thousands of mine-resistant vehicles (military could buy nearly 4,000 more)

[The Straight Story]

Surge will include thousands of mine-resistant vehicles
By Megan Scully CongressDaily December 4, 2009

As it prepares to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the U.S. military could buy nearly 4,000 additional mine-resistant all-terrain vehicles than currently on order.

During testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the military may need as many as 10,000 of the M-ATVs, which were designed for Afghanistan's rugged terrain.

The Pentagon has already tapped Oshkosh Corp. to build 6,219 of the vehicles by April. With production runs expected to hit 1,000 vehicles a month, it appears the firm could produce the additional vehicles by August or September.


Gates first indicated that more M-ATVs would likely be needed if more troops were deployed into Afghanistan during a trip to Oshkosh's Wisconsin production facility last month.

"The M-ATV's lighter weight, independent suspension system and greater off-road mobility is well-suited to Afghanistan's rugged terrain and will make a real difference in our operations there," he said during the trip.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44173&sid=61

[leftstreet]

1. YES! War means jobs!

We must all do our parts

Where is the mine-resistant all-terrain auto plant?

[Mopar151]

6. Oshkosh, Wisconson

Their normal fare is cement mixers (those cool rear-engine ones), big snowplows, and huge fire trucks, along with several types of vocational truck bodies. Many of their products are equipped with sophisticated AWD and independent suspension.



These guys have plenty to do without MRV's - maybe we should work on fire truck and de-mining conversions for these MRV's?

[upi402]

2. A little late....

aaaargh, Republicans DO NOT care about the troops. They exploit them for profit and bullshit the public.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Or sign the mine treaty.

:shrug:

[kenny blankenship]

4. cha-CHING!

Take THAT public health and education! IN YOUR FACE!

[postulater]

5. I've seen the trucks hauling them south from Oshkosh

past Milwaukee two at a time.

[Octafish]

7. Sounds like a car salesman.

"The M-ATV's lighter weight, independent suspension system and greater off-road mobility is well-suited to Afghanistan's rugged terrain and will make a real difference in our operations there." -- Bob Gates, BFEE

It's the same effect, from the same crowd who would never roll out a new war in summer.

[dysfunctional press]

8. didn't the iraqi insurgents just respond with bigger ied's?

plus- what are their their mileage numbers? the army pays $400/gallon for gas, by the time it's being pumped into vehicles.

[Subdivisions]

9. That's good. They're going to need them on the roads in Pakistan. n/t

[Thickasabrick]

10. What about all those new trucks that are unused and stretch for miles

in Iraq. Somebody had a really cool picture of that the other day.

[More_liberal_than_mo]

11. When we make them mine resistant,

the Taliban make bigger IED's. See what happens when they hit a really big IED.
We make better vehicles, they make bigger bombs. We can't win...