Wednesday, August 01, 2012

More Savings at the Pentagon

A single Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP) costs $600,000.  Basic Humvees cost $50,000 each, and up-armored Humvees with medium amounts of protection cost $170,000 each.  What should we buy?

Gates said that MRAPs save "thousands and thousands of lives."  A couple of professors recently studied the situation using For Official Use Only (FOUO) Pentagon data and disagree with him.  They dispute the findings of the analyses performed by the Pentagon. For example: "While the heavier vehicles are safer in principle, they are bulky and lack maneuverability, and they were introduced at a relatively calm time in the conflict, when there were few deaths for them to prevent."  And there are further questions.

The professors concluded that MRAP vehicles did not save more lives than lesser protected vehicles.  The cost differential of the vehicles was not justified.  

They conclude:  "There may be a case for supplying MRAPs to some of these units in a more lethal situation, but it does not make sense for the Defense Department to purchase MRAPs in large numbers."  Yet, the Pentagon is planning to buy more than 5,000 MRAPs.

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