By Emelie Rutherford
A Marine Corps-lead effort for buying thousands of a new breed of all-terrain Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle for Afghanistan is moving forward, with a solicitation to industry likely to debut this month, congressional and Pentagon sources said.
A request for proposals (RFP) for the joint-service vehicle effort–alternatively called the MRAP All-Terrain Light Combat Vehicle (MATLCV) and the MRAP All Terrain vehicle (MRAP AT) by sources–could emerge as soon as the coming week. The RFP though, had not been drafted yet at the end of last week, and a synopsis of the proposed contract action–required under acquisition regulations–is expected to come out first, sources said.
The forthcoming MRAP-like vehicles for Afghanistan are intended to be lighter and more-maneuverable than their hulking V-shaped-bottomed predecessors now in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have encountered problems including rolling over, crushing roads, and entangling in power lines. The new all-terrain MRAPs are intended to shield troops from improvised explosive devices as well as explosively formed penetrators–a protection not inherent in the first MRAPs ordered last year.
The Marine Corps will be the executive agent of the new all-terrain MRAP effort, a role it had for the 15,000-plus-vehicle, multi-contractor MRAP program, according to a Pentagon source. The decision for the effort to be steered by the Marine Corps-managed MRAP Joint Program Office–and not by an Army outfit–was made in recent days, after an Oct. 27 meeting of the MRAP Task Force lead by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young. The Joint Program Office includes Kevin Fahey, the Army’s program executive officer for ground combat systems, and he and his staff are expected to play a significant role in the new all-terrain MRAP effort as well. The Army received the vast majority of the MRAPs already ordered for all the services.
The final orders in the initial 15,000-plus-vehicle MRAP program were placed on Sept. 4, as part of 13th low-rate initial-production (LRIP 13) round, wrapping up the fast-paced acquisition program that started in late 2006 and enjoys strong congressional support. The Pentagon’s Defense Acquisition Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday on allowing the MRAP program to receive the full-rate production status.
A Joint Urgent Operational Needs Statement (JUONS) for the new breed of lighter MRAPs was submitted in theater in the summer. Under the moniker MATLCV, the JUONS received the Joint Staff’s approval on or around Oct. 22, Joint Staff spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Tallman said.
He added that while the new vehicle effort is “very early in the process,” that it appears to be “on a fast track very much like MRAP was.”
The Army issued a request for information (RFI) on Aug. 21 for feedback from industry on its capacity to quickly build approximately 2,000 of the all-terrain MRAPs, which many observers at the time called “MRAP Lite.” Approximately 30 responses were submitted by the RFI’s mid-September deadline, according to industry and Pentagon sources.
Companies interested include Navistar Defense–which received the final 800-plus-vehicle MRAP order in September, for trucks specified to be lighter and more agile than the earlier iterations–Textron [TXT], Force Protection [FRPT], BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin [LMT], General Dynamics [GD], andOshkosh Truck [OSK] (Defense Daily, Oct. 10).
Sources estimate the all-terrain MRAP effort could result in approximately 2,000 vehicles, with some predicting the number could climb as high as 3,000. The cost could reach into the billions of dollars.
Because the new all-terrain MRAP effort is to have the same acquisition-decision setup as the initial program, funds already in a MRAP transfer account can be used.
Lawmakers and aides have said they expect little or no resistance on Capitol Hill to appropriating and authorization any additional funds needed for the all-terrain MRAP, because the mine-proof vehicles have been proven to save lives.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), chairman of the House Armed Services Air and Land Forces subcommittee, told Defense Daily last month that while congressional support for mine-resistant vehicles has been strong, lawmakers may examine the all-terrain MRAP effort in an upcoming hearing.
To “the degree and extent that that’s now appropriate vis-a-vis Afghanistan, I think we have to have that conversation, and I expect we will very, very shortly,” Abercrombie said (Defense Daily, Oct. 31). It remains to be seen if House lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. for a lame-duck session next week or any time before Congress reconvenes in January.
One of the initial MRAP program’s most outspoken supporters has been Vice President-elect Joseph Biden, the outgoing Democratic senator from Delaware. Biden and President-elect Barack Obama, in a defense plan updated shortly before the Nov. 4 election, cite the need to “fully equip our troops for the missions they face.”
“We must listen to our ground commanders when they tell us what kinds of technology and skills they need to fight most effectively,” the Obama-Biden defense fact sheet states. “We cannot repeat the failure to swiftly deploy up-armored vehicles in response to insurgent tactics. We must prioritize getting vitally needed equipment to our Soldiers and Marines before lives are lost.”
At the Pentagon, Young told reporters on Oct. 30 that a suggested Pentagon budget proposal–for the next war-funding supplemental spending bill, crafted by Pentagon leaders for the incoming administration to review–might “(leave) room or (have) a notional estimate of funds to buy additional vehicles for Afghanistan.” Yet he said at the time he did not know if such vehicles would be current modified MRAPs or the vehicles in a follow-on MRAP effort.
At the Oct. 30 roundtable, Young said the all-terrain MRAP effort was a “work in progress,” and he didn’t know if it’s possible to heed the desire for a vehicle that’s better than an up-armored Humvee and performs like an MRAP, but weighs half or less than half of what current MRAPs weigh.
Still, he cited the need for MRAPs better suited for Afghanistan’s rugged terrain and less-developed road infrastructure.
“We are moving aggressively with what you publicly know is awards to develop MRAPs that are a little lighter, tighter turning radius, narrower, and meet some initial theater requirements,” he said. He added that Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a recent MRAP Task Force meeting emphasized the need to stem casualties in Afghanistan.