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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