Year-end MRAP delivery to be 1,500, not 3,900

[TahitiNut]

Year-end MRAP delivery to be 1,500, not 3,900

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Aug 22, 2007 14:30:38 EDT

Defense officials say fewer than half of the new blast-resistant vehicles being built this year to give troops better protection from roadside bombs will be delivered to Iraq by year’s end.

At least 1,500 will be in Iraq by Dec. 31, according to Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. But the figure is less than half of the 3,900 an official previously said would be delivered.

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle is Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ top program priority. During a July 18 press conference at the Pentagon, John Young, chairman of DoD’s MRAP Task Force, had said — “ambitiously,” according to Morrell — that 3,500 to 3,900 would be delivered to Iraq in that time.

Morrell corrected that Wednesday, saying 1,500 MRAPs will be delivered to Iraq by the end of the year, adding, “We could very well end up getting more than that in theater.”

Young still believes 3,900 MRAPs will be produced by Dec. 31, Morrell said.

Morrell also denied that delivery is being held up by production issues, as claimed in a recent published report.

“It’s not accurate,” Morrell said.

The delay, he said, will be due to the amount of time — 50 days — it takes to outfit the vehicles and get most of them to the war theater. That means few of the MRAPs produced during the last two months of the year, when production by DoD’s five vendors is expected to climb considerably, will be completely outfitted and delivered by Dec. 31.

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I gotta wonder who got the privateering contract to do the logistics on thse MRAPs.
I wonder how many will die for their bottom line.

[frogcycle]

1. You and I were reading the same article while DU was stalled!

I was going to post it. You must have gotten back in quicker.

[TahitiNut]

2. Good ol' Google News.

:hi: