MRAPs working so far, generals tell Congress

[unhappycamper]

MRAPs working so far, generals tell Congress
By Tom Vanden Brook - USA Today
Posted : Friday Apr 4, 2008 9:55:22 EDT

WASHINGTON — Troops traveling in the military’s new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected trucks have survived attacks from the most lethal explosives in Iraq, according to military commanders and a Pentagon report.

Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of Multi-National Division-Central troops south of Baghdad, said his soldiers are facing more attacks from explosively formed penetrators. These weapons fire a molten slug of metal that can slice through armor even on tanks. MRAPs also have withstood blasts from huge improvised explosive devices buried deep in roads.

“The MRAPs, in addition to increasing the survivability of our soldiers from underbelly attacks, also have improved force protection for EFP attacks as well,” Lynch said. “So I’ve had EFPs hit my MRAPs and the soldiers inside, in general terms, are OK.”

Lynch’s soldiers received their first MRAPs in November and now have 323, Maj. Alayne Conway, a military spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Lynch blamed Shiite extremists for the rise in EFP attacks.

The truck’s V-shaped hull deflects explosions. Its chassis also sits high off the ground, where the force of buried bombs would be greatest. They’re taller than Humvees, Lynch said, making them harder to target for insurgents using EFPs.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/gns_mrap_040408/