Troops add improvised armor to Humvees

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=20230

LOGISTICS SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, IRAQ — While the Army plans to ship more armored Humvees into Iraq, many troops are upgrading their soft-sided Humvees on the cheap while they wait for replacements.

Conventional Humvees were not designed to face some of the most insidious threats in the Iraq combat zone. Roadside bombs have killed more than 80 soldiers since the war began last March. Hundreds of other troops have been killed when explosive devices were tossed into their vehicles or they were ambushed.

Army officials said last week that up to 220 armored Humvees a month will be produced in a new factory in the United States by this spring. In addition, 6,000 kits for armoring standard Humvees and other military vehicles also are being sent to the region. The cost for the new vehicles and upgrade kits is roughly $177 million.

In the meantime, some soldiers are turning to local metal shops to upgrade their conventional Humvees as best they can.

[jean]

1. Every time I see humvee on the road I think of death in Iraq

[Chico Man]

3. I bet soldiers returning from Iraq think about death and a whole lot more

When they return to the US and see all of the hum-vees toting around.

[Francois]

7. I think of our leadership.

[drewb]

18. We have "leadership"???

Didn't see that in the news...

:loveya:

[BigDaddyLove]

21. Welcome to DU Francois!!!!!!!

:toast:

[CanuckAmok]

2. I'm surprised S&S published an artice so...

...less-than-complimentary to the Army.

We used to get the occasional copy of Stars and Stripes when I was with the UN, and it was all "Rah Rah Rah Flag-waving" tripe.

[Qanisqineq]

8. My husband is in Iraq

he says some of the "higher ups" are trying to keep S&S out of the troops hands because it has many less than complimentary articles about Bush*, etc.

[denverbill]

10. The officer corps in the military is overwhelmingly Republican.

I have no doubt your husband is correct.

[CanuckAmok]

11. Cheers to your husband, Tolania...

:toast:

He'll be home soon, safe and sound...maybe even before we have the regime change on this continent in November.

[HawkerHurricane]

12. What!

Keep the Stars and Stripes away from the men? Sacrilidge!

Stars and Stripes, run by the Army (or close to it) remains one of the few truely 'unbiased'* news sources that the military gets.

(Yes, it's biased. It's pro military.)

[Chico Man]

4. Is the factory going to be in Wichita, Kansas? (nt)

[arcane1]

5. "220 armored Humvees a month will be produced.. by this SPRING"

hmm, are they planning on staying awhile, under the same dangers?? Seems to be the case...

[RobertSeattle]

6. If I were over there...

I'd be sitting on top of a sand bag (or two) while traveling!

Cheap, but effective.

[denverbill]

9. Wow. $28000 per vehicle.

Lets assume the new armored ones cost $200,000. That's $44 million, leaving $133 million to armor 6000 old ones. That's still $20K/pop.

What's that armor made of? Silver?

[kiahzero]

13. Well, by my math:

X, the cost of the new armored ones, equals:
(-300 * (Y - 29500)) / 11

where

Y, the cost of the armored kit:
0 < Y < 29500

Beyond that, you can't really figure out how much they are for each, without additional information.

[DemoTex]

14. That's part of "The Fog of Battle."

The price.

[denverbill]

15. I have no problem spending the money to protect the troops.

However, I would be awfully angry to find out that Americans are being vastly overcharged.

Judging from Halliburton, I'm virtually positive that every single corporation getting Defense dollars is ripping us off royally.

[Taeger]

16. I hope the factory

I hope the factory is running 24 hours. If not, they should.

Don't give me any cost bullshit. They allocated $87 billion dollars. A few billion can easily be spared for the safety of American troops. Those tightwads didn't even equip guardsmen with proper body armor before they were sent over. It's pretty short sighted considering they were planning the war since day ONE of the Bush administration.

[Voltaire99]

17. Reminds me of a display in the Franklin Mint window...

...where, shortly after the illegal invasion was launched, there very swiftly appeared at the mall store a teeny tiny metal reproduction of the Humvee. Apparently one was supposed to be this metal die cast replica and proudly display it (say, on top of your toilet?) as a constant reminder of how your nation was "liberating" Iraq.

Flash forward. We're coming up on a year, so let us review. Now everyone knows that Humvees are death traps (and none better than the late not-so-great Michael Kelly, the sightseeing pro-war journalist who died in one). Daily, more US troops die. More Iraqis are being killed than under Saddam Hussein. "Democracy" in Iraq is a sick joke, a Fox News-style sham. No WMDs in sight. And the US treasury along with US lives and our moral standing in the world are all being depleted faster than you can say "Mission Accomplished!"

Wonder how those little commemorative Humvee models are selling these days at the good ol' Franklin Mint? Will they be revising the model to reflect the added armor?

[gulfcoastliberal]

19. Great Summary

Very well put! Ain't life under King George II grand?

[dbt]

20. This is an OUTRAGE!

How fucking DARE the Regime send ANY of our fighting forces ANYWHERE without the BEST protection, the MOST life-sustaining equipment available?

Why should our troops have to spend ONE NANOSECOND shoring up their hardware? Why was it not completely up to specs when it left the damn factory?

Could it be that this is only a War For Profit and cost-cutting is more important than a few hundred gallons of American blood?

:grr:
dbt

[Mari333]

22. Yesterday on the Senate Floor

Sen Durbin brought this up....they need 8400 steel doors to be made for the Humvees ...Durbin talked with wounded vets at Walter Reed about it, who said they were wounded due to the lack of armour on the Humvees..
so Durbin WENT to the DOD and asked..fix the Humvees..
the DOD said it would take a YEAR to fix them...Durbin said WHY??? a year??? IN WW2 we made a plane in a couple days in factories..
well, Durbin was told. "We only have ONE steel plant LEFT in the USA...Its in Pennsylvania..." ergo, ONE YEAR to fix those Humvees and make them safer.
total bullshit. and my stepson is going there like a sitting duck.
Point your finger straight at the WH...THATS who is killing and wounding our kids and loved ones.