First of all, let me just say up front: Since my recent return from Iraq, I have officially become a fan of the MRAP.
O.K., I said it. You’ve read plenty of skeptical stories here at DT on the usefulness of the MRAP and the prudence of a “crash” program to buy gobs of them for Iraq. I stand by my principle criticism. But after having spent some time in MRAPs — particularly the RG-33 6x version — I have to admit I feel pretty safe riding in them.
I’ll lay out more of my case in subsequent posts, but suffice it to say in the Humvee I have to get my 6’2″ frame in and out of one like a clown car — folding one leg in and reaching out to fold the next one into the small foot wells. There’s no place to stow a bag and tri-pod or other reporting gear in a Humvee.
Not so the MRAP. Cushy seats, room for multiple coolers, backpacks full of snivel gear and snacks and radios, DVD players and iPod speakers.
I’ll take an MRAP over a Humvee any day.
Now to the point…
One of the cool pieces of gear I noticed when I was tromping around with some EOD folks near Tikrit is this crazy snow blower looking gizmo attached to several of the unit’s MRAPs. The unit commander tells me they’re called “Blow Torch” and what the guys tell me is that they shoot out a blistering stream of air to uncover IEDs, command wire and other detonators attached to a roadside bomb without having to tinker with it by hand or with a robot.
The system was recognized in August 2007 as one of the Army’s “greatest inventions” and so far it’s been deployed to principally Army units in Iraq for about two years.
– Christian
Christian:
I’m pretty sure that Atkinson wrote about these snow blower things in his Left-of-Boom series for the Post. Go check it out for more details.
Charlie
How about these for the Reserves & NG Units aside the Marines.
Expand this all over Iraq.
Needed.
Or maybe make Blow Torch use flame thrower to ignite IEDs from distance
Or explosive chord links to detonate IED mines.
Need to give them to the National Guard up north after we are done over there. Looks like they will make great snow blowers.
DC2
“After having spent some time in MRAPs — I have to admit I feel pretty safe riding in them…
Cushy seats, room for multiple coolers, backpacks full of snivel gear and snacks and radios, DVD players and iPod speakers. I’ll take an MRAP over a Humvee any day.“
How do cushy seats, DVD players and coolers make the MRAP safer to ride in than a Humvee is?
Cushy seats? DVD players? Bah. Our troops deserve the best. Forget MRAP vehicles. We need to go straight to the Canyonero.
“Can you name the truck with four wheel drive,
smells like a steak and seats thirty-five…
Canyonero! Canyonero!
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide,
65 tons of American Pride!
Canyonero! Canyonero!
Top of the line in utility sports,
Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts!
Canyonero! Canyonero! (Yah!)
She blinds everybody with her super high beams,
She’s a squirrel crushing, deer smacking, driving machine!
Canyonero!-oh woah, Canyonero! (Yah!)”
It is nice that he came around to the MRAP.
Just a couple days in country and he realizes that bigger is better and that the Humvee was not made for what we are doing over there.
Some people say we are constantly fighting the last war.
Leave it to us Americans to be constantly fighting the next war.
(“MRAP is to big to be transported to the next battlefield, is taking funds away from the future Humvee replacement”)
My biggest complaint is it took too long, and too many dead people to get that thing over there.…
“I’ll take an MRAP over a Humvee any day“
in Iraq that is… every weapon has unique uses and value under specific conditions. The army has to field weaponry that suit the climate and environment.
many missions and only one fatality to date…not too shabby. Question, when this war is over, and we encounter a different breed of enemy, will these vehicles have relevance on the battlefield if IED/VBIED arent the weapons of choice?
as far as conventional IEDS go, MRAPS are pretty stable…now you get into deep burrieds, and EFPS, well…dont get too comfortable. EFP will rip through the armor like butter, and a deep burried will either a.) flip it or b.) blow it up from the ground up. but, it is more spacious than a Humvee (death trap) as far as mobile missions go, and they do handle well..and they sit high off the ground…which makes it easier to spot ieds, unlike the humvee…which is just useless for that job. but its all personal preference…just dont think your safe…cause that copper slug wont be stopped by an RG 31 or 33. and the blower comes in handy, quite a bit. but what would i know…im only an engineer.
As with every aspect of war every item used by the troops when faced by a problem has been subjected to a baptism of fire, the HMMWV being no different. The MRAP was designed to overcome a problem but the problem has evolved, and so must the solution. MRAP has it’s roots in South Africa’s V-shaped hull designs dating back to 1970’s in an effort to defeat landmines. Even the ‘Husky’ mine detection vehicle has it’s roots in the ‘Pookie’.
The next generation of MRAP, such as the Marauder and Matador from Paramount Group will still be faced with the current dilemma, and changing threat in a catch-up solution. With the Buffalo and the Cougar, the vehicles are proving a weka point from their own strengths, they’re too big and too heavy. Not that this matters as there will be plenty men who have thanked the vehicle for this trait.
In the entrance hall of BaeLandsystems OMC is a plaque written by the two guys who survived a strike on the nose of their RG31M thanking them for a well designed and engineered vehicle, would the inefficiencies of the vehicles design concern them after that situation? especially after they both walked away. I doubt it …
As afore mentioned, IED’s can be turned on troops then, anyone remember the german ‘Blunderbuss’ of WWII? It’s terrifying to think of this.
The MRAP is only a means to an end, nothing last forever as everything’s eventual. I woul dgo far as to say that the safest place to be in Iraq is not to be there.
The MRAP is just a peice of equipment that has and is giving the max armor protection. It is not an excuse for situational awareness, staying connected, and good Tactics, Techniques,and procedures. the MRAP provides a little more standoff and with the program the soldiers are provided a lot more protection. I am so thankful for the MRAP vehicles. Now we need to upgrade the reach out and touch me weapons on these vehicles to help the soldiers doing an outstanding job in the Zones.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRAP_(armored_vehicle) there are a few different types.
Which are you referring to? What makes it better than a HUMVEE?
DoubleTapper
DoubleTapper@gmail.com
http://doubletapper.blogspot.com
I-pods on patrol??? How the Hell do you maintain SA and talk to each other with that crap? I once had my corpsman(notional non-combatant) playing his ipod on patrol and I went off on him. Inside the wire during downtime, cool, decompress; on patrol, you’re on government time which means 100% attention to the job at hand. Sweet baby Jesus, what’s wrong with the NCO corps? S/F.…Ken M
If you’re not the driver or vehicle commander,there’s nothing wrong at all with listening to an I-Pod in a vehicle.Whats the difference between listening to an I-Pod(back in my day,it was a “walkman”) or having a boombox blasting Heavy Metal,Hip Hop,or Country & Western in a vehicle going into battle.Surely the troops would have enough common sense to take it off when they are going on foot patrol.Anyway,unless they’re wearing ear plugs,their hearings shot anyway from firing their weapons.When I was in Germany & at Graf,we’d use our cracker box ambulances like campers.All that was missing was the kitchen & bathroom.
We usually did wear ear plugs, kept the near miss IED’s from blowing out your ear drums, as well as the hearing loss from SAF and omnipresent diesel growl.
And we were constantly in and out of the vehicles, talking to folks, moving slow through urban areas, keeping the crowds away from the vehicles to avoid somebody playing Karem Abdul Alibaba into the ring mount with a grenade, etc. Even if you don’t understand Arabic, if you start hearing angry tones or start getting that “Allah Akbar” death chant.…
It just seems like an unneccesary distraction from the job at hand.
If it were just another Desert Drive-by shoot ‘em up, then it wouldn’t matter, but it’s a lot more intricate then that. S/F.…Ken M
I suppose that yes there is a big difference between an urban mission & doing a “road march(I was in the 3rd Infantry Division in the 80s in Germany.They explained to me that it was when they said “dismounted” road march that I should worry).“
Anyway,I agree that when you are moving & dismounting repeatedly from a vehicle that yes,you don’t need to be listening to an I-Pod.If however,you were the 3rd wheel in a vehicle in a convoy & you weren’t the driver,vehicle comander,or gunner,but just a passenger,then its ok to listen to an I-Pod to keep the stress at bay.Once the vehicle stops & you dismount,then you need your full attention to the matter at hand.
If you are a passenger in a M113 or a Stryker vehicle,since you can’t see whats going on anyway if your all buttoned up inside,then what are you supposed to do besides doze? Since the MRAP does have windows,I suppose you can help with your eyes to look for anything out of the ordinary like an IED.Thats something all passengers can do in an MRAP with windows.Passengers in a vehicle(again,not the driver or vehicle commander) are either going to listen to music or doze while it’s moving towards or back from its destination.
I had no problem whatsoever with dozing in a loud M113 when we were moving.
No mention of the great company that makes these machines.
What is the official nomenclature of the “Blow Torch” & what exactly does it do? Is it a microwave emitter?
That hunk a metal is all fine n dandy where theres solid packed soil or roads, but you aint going anywhere else. PERIOD.
That thing is how much weight? Can you say TITANIC.….…..
Its mans endless quest to be stupid and just “add more and more and more“
So? What do we do when the weps makers figure out out to wreck it? hmmmmmmmmm?
Your Best Pal, Ice
Great Dave,
Most of the solders dying over there are being blown up by bombs planted in the road. So guess what, the MRAP fits the bill for what is happening right now.
Bigger vehicles mean that it will take bigger bombs or a good hit from a large shaped charge. Both of which take longer to plant in the ground, and transport.
I know this is from the AP, and they are anti-military, but take a look at this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23188032/
I am not saying the terrorist will not change tactics. But as long as we keep pace, a lot more of our people will come home.
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I would like to ask a ? why is it that we use the HUSKY which look for IED by using serach head located in the middle of this truck. Anyway the point Iam trying to get at would be would it not be a better plan to mount the the detection heads out in front let me know what you think.
I do have one correction to this article. The image shown for the “blow torch” is not actually a “blow torch”. That image shown in of a different Army invention from Picatinny Arsenal (Cyclone) and not of the “blow torch” from ARL down in Aberdeen. I have attached a link for your reference. –> http://www.usaasc.info/alt_online/printer_friendl...
The image shown here is of the “Cyclone”. Refer to link –> http://www.pica.army.mil/pmccs/docs/PMCCS_Brochur...