Afghan war allies want Iraq war-tested MRAPs

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The United Kingdom has ordered 500 Cougar mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, according to a spokesman for Cougar manufacturer Force Protection. Above, a Cougar MRAP travels through an off-road course during a demonstration aboard Camp Taqaddum, Iraq, in November 2008.


Afghan war allies want Iraq war-tested MRAPs
By Tom Vanden Brook - USA Today
Posted : Monday May 10, 2010 21:36:34 EDT

Coalition forces in Afghanistan, in urgent need of protection from roadside bombs, have sought hundreds of the U.S.-produced armored trucks known as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, according to Pentagon officials and documents.

So far, the Pentagon has lent or sold 581 new and used MRAPs to allies such as Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Jordan and Georgia. Other countries, including the United Kingdom, are buying theirs directly from U.S. manufacturers.

“They saw, as we all saw, how effective MRAPs in Iraq were at saving lives,” said Ashton Carter, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer. “Although they weren’t all in Iraq, they are in Afghanistan, and they wanted the same capability.”

In February, Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged U.S. help to NATO allies in combating improvised explosive devices. The aid is vital as more U.S. and allied troops pour into the country to quell the increasingly violent Taliban insurgency. There are about 84,000 U.S. troops there now and 40,000 from allied countries. There will be about 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the end of the summer.

“MRAPs are the most important part of the equipment that we can make available,” said Carter, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics.