Army Modernizes, Modestly: Hard Upgrades To M1s, MRAPs, Humvees

[unhappycamper]

http://defense.aol.com/2012/10/25/army-modernizes-modestly-painful-upgrades-to-m1s-mraps-humve/




Army Modernizes, Modestly: Hard Upgrades To M1s, MRAPs, Humvees
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: October 25, 2012

AUSA: It may sound ambitious, even hubristic, that the Army wants to fold all its modernization programs into a single 30-year plan. But the long-range look is all about living within limits.

The service wants to keep researching and developing 21st century weapons like the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) truck and the tank-like Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV), but it is also knows it must keep 1980s designs like the Humvee and the M1 Abrams tank for years to come. This sets up a nasty cycle. The more the new stuff gets cut, the longer the old stuff has to last, which requires careful investment in maintenance and upgrades.

Changes to one program's budget create ripple effects across the others. By building a long-term plan that links research, development, procurement, and sustainment, explained the Army's acquisition chief, Assistant Secretary Heidi Shyu, "we can understand implications if a program gets delayed, stretched out, or cut."

~snip~

&quot Installing) the network in an MRAP ATV is not a cheap thing because it's not designed to carry it," said Kevin Fahey, a senior civil servant with long experience in the MRAP program. Fahey now bears the jawbreaking title of "Program Executive Officer, Combat Systems and Combat Support Systems," or PEO CS & CSS, for (not very) short. That gives him oversight over, among other things, the Army's massive fleet of trucks, from the venerable Humvee to the newer MRAPs to the prototype JLTV. Those vehicles are less exciting, and individually less expensive, than the tanks and other heavy combat vehicles -- but there are a lot more of them, so they loom large in Army budgets. Said Fahey, "if you add a small thing to 150,000 vehicles, it by definition becomes a large thing."

[Victor_c3]

1. That tank looks better than my tank

[IMG][/IMG]

I had two tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles in my platoon. We had to move from one side of the FOB to the other and so my tankers piled all of their stuff on a tank "Beverly Hillbilly" style to drive it to their new home.

[pinboy3niner]

2. If I squint just right, I think I can see Granny up there

[Victor_c3]

3. you're not looking close enough

Last edited Fri Oct 26, 2012, 05:55 AM - Edit history (3)

It's me waiving two handfulls of $100 bills

uhh I'll get the picture back up later

We arrested some guy out past curfew with thou$and$ of dollars worth of $100 bills and a whole bunch of weapons. They were all brand new and crisp bills. I doubt they were real. Of course I had to get my picture taken with them...