EXPLOSIVE, STICKY, AD-​​HOC ARMOR

In 2004, there was no mil­i­tary tech­nol­ogy issue as impor­tant as armor. How the Pentagon pro­tected American troops and American vehi­cles became, for many, the lit­mus test for Defense Department lead­er­ship — or lack thereof.
Here are some of the year’s wildest schemes, biggest steps, and most intense polit­i­cal bat­tles over armor.
PEEL-​​AND-​​STICK ARMOR IN IRAQ
Usually, adding to an armor to a Humvee means weld­ing on giant steel plates. Now, U.S. forces in Iraq are start­ing to stick their armor on, like bumper stick­ers.
ARMY SAYS NO TO AD-​​HOC ARMOR
U.S. sol­diers have been adding jury-​​rigged armor to their Humvees, to toughen the vehi­cles up against RPGs and road­side explo­sives. The Army is telling its troops to cut it out.
ARMORED POOCHES ON IRAQ PATROL
G.I.s in Iraq may not be able to get armor for their Humvees. Their dogs, on the other hand, are well pro­tected.
ARMY REBOOTS G.I.S’ TIRED FATIGUES
Ever since they tan­gled with the Red Coats, American gen­er­als have been giv­ing their grunts more and more and more gear to lug — from rations to radios, body armor to bat­ter­ies. Now, for the first time, the Army has decided to junk the old uni­forms and start from scratch.
G.I.S GET ARMOR ADD-​​ONS
A G.I.‘s body armor is designed, mostly, to stop head-​​on attacks, or to keep a sol­dier from get­ting shot in the back. But in Iraq, insur­gents aren’t com­ing straight at the sol­diers. That’s why the Army and Sandia National Laboratories are rolling out new body armor add-​​ons, designed to shield troops’ flanks and arms.
SOLDIER ARMOR: STEP INTO LIQUID
Army researchers are work­ing on liq­uid body armor, to add to sol­diers’ bul­let­proof vests.
PAYBACK, FINALLY, FOR ARMOR BUYS
It’s become a dis­gust­ingly famil­iar scene: American troops, cor­nered into to pay­ing for their own pro­tec­tion. Now thank God they’ll finally start to get reim­bursed for what they’ve spent.
U.S. GETS EXPLOSIVE ARMOR FROM ISRAEL
The U.S. Army wants to pro­tect its Bradley fight­ing vehi­cles — by strap­ping dozens of Israeli explo­sives to their skins.
SHOOT TO PROTECT
For many sol­diers in Humvees, the best defense against an RPG is to shoot the guy hold­ing the RPG before he can let one off. But another layer of defense may be com­ing — a way to blast the RPG in midair.
ARMORED HUMMERS UNDERCUT
Without some extra armor, American Humvees can’t stand up to the Iraqi insur­gents’ onslaught of rocket-​​propelled grenades and road­side bombs. “So how is the White House propos­ing to deal with this?” asks Slate’s Eric Umanky. “By under­fund­ing the pro­gram to armor Humvees.“
ARMOR LACK LEADS TO HEAVY ATTACKS
Raining hell on Falluja is a tac­tic burst­ing with polit­i­cal dan­ger. So why do it? The answer, accord­ing to Newhouse’s David Wood, is because thin-​​skinned American Humvees can’t han­dle an up-​​close fight.
RUMMY’S SLICK SUPPLEMENTAL MOVE
You’d think it’d be a top pri­or­ity for the Army, out­fit­ting troops with new body armor, hel­mets, and com­mu­ni­ca­tions gear. But the Pentagon can’t seem to find the cash in its $420 bil­lion bud­get to pay for the equip­ment.
ARMOR LACK: WHO’S TO BLAME?
So who’s respon­si­ble for American troops still oper­at­ing in Iraq with­out proper pro­tec­tion?
TRUCKS STILL THIN-​​SKINNED
The Hummers are pro­tected, mostly. It’s the trucks that are in trou­ble.
G.I.S’ PAYCHECKS FUND TRUCK ARMOR
So the Pentagon lead­er­ship has finally rec­og­nized that they need to armor up their trucks. But they’ve set­tled on a damn pecu­liar way of pay­ing for the work. They’re dip­ping into sol­diers’ pay­checks to do it.

December 28th, 2004 | Armor | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.