More of your tax dollars at work

[unhappycamper]

GAO Warns of Runaway MRAP Costs
July 17, 2008
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The accelerated pace the military has used to buy and deploy thousands of heavily armored mine resistant vehicles for Iraq and Afghanistan could lead to problems with maintenance and cost overruns on the top priority project, according to congressional investigators.

Congress has appropriated $22 billion to acquire more than 15,000 mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, also known as MRAPs, to protect troops from roadside bombs and other insurgent ambushes, according to the Government Accountability Office report. Defense Secretary Robert Gates designated the program as the department's highest priority acquisition last year.

That meant testing of safety and performance occurred while the vehicles were being bought, raising the possibility costly errors would be uncovered after the fact. More than 100 vehicles the military paid for were not fielded because of problems discovered after their purchase, according to the GAO report made public Wednesday.

"While the department's concurrent approach to producing, testing, and fielding the vehicles has provided an urgently needed operational capability, it has also increased performance, sustainability and cost risks," the GAO concluded.

~snip~

The purchase of MRAPs has been largely funded through supplemental defense budgets, emergency spending measures the GAO said can obscure the cost of long-term maintenance. Those costs have not yet been determined, the report said.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/gao-warns-of-runaway-mrap-costs.html?col=1186032310810



uhc comment: Since these bad boys cost $1,000,000+ a pop (look it up in the Veterans forum), that means $100,000,000 was paid for stuff we never got.