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Plan calls for more armor on MRAPs

QUANTICO, Va. — The Marine general in charge of the program to send new armored vehicles to Iraq said the Pentagon suggests adding armor to the sides of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected trucks to protect them from the deadliest type of armor-piercing roadside bomb, the explosively formed projectile.

The armor is a modified version of what the military calls Frag Kit 6.

“I have a solution for EFPs, and I’m going to put it on the trucks I’ve already bought,” said Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan.

The MRAP’s V-shaped hull and raised chassis help protect troops inside the vehicle from the force of makeshift bombs known as improvised explosive devices.

Brogan dismissed concerns from some military contractors — raised in an online discussion — that the added armor would make the vehicles too wide to operate on U.S. highways.

“They’re going into a combat zone,” Brogan said. “So, yeah, they’re going to be wider than would be permitted if you were going to drive up Interstate 95.”

This week, contractors will have an opportunity to submit other solutions to the EFP threat for testing. But their armor will have to rival the current solution to merit consideration.

“I’ve got great trucks,” Brogan said. “And I can put additional armor on those great trucks. ... You’ve either got the solution or you don’t.”

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, decried the wait. “We first saw explosively formed penetrators three years ago, but we’re just now coming up with a solution to this deadly technology? That is unacceptable. ... We need to be a step ahead of those killing our troops, not a step behind,” he said.

The base price for the two categories of troop-carrying MRAPs is $500,000 to $600,000, Brogan said. The price for the armor kit is less than half the price of those vehicles, he said, declining to be more specific.

The military tested the armor at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., by firing explosives at it. EFPs fire a slug of metal at high speeds that penetrate armor and spray pieces of shrapnel that can kill or injure the troops inside the vehicle.

The military has acquired almost 900 MRAP vehicles this year, Brogan said. About 400 have arrived in Iraq. The Pentagon has orders for 6,500 of the vehicles and wants to acquire 15,000 in total in 2008.

In February 2005, Marines sent an urgent plea for MRAPs capable of stopping EFPs. In January, the military’s No. 2 commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, reiterated the need with another urgent request for EFP protection.

Until recently, the vehicles had been shipped to units that deal with bomb disposal and ensuring roads are free of bombs.

Marines are now using them for everyday combat missions, said Maj. Jeff Pool, a Marine spokesman based in Anbar province.

“We have well over 400 MRAPs and are receiving dozens per week, every week,” Pool said in an e-mail.

It was the Marines’ safety record with MRAPs in Anbar that caught Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ attention and prompted him to make buying the vehicles a top Pentagon priority. USA Today has reported that the Pentagon knew of MRAPs’ effectiveness but was slow to seek them.