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The military has requested a total of $25 Billion from the Defense Department to purchase Mine Resistant Armored Personnel carriers. A memo submitted on May 15th to Defense Secretary Gates asks for authority to order 3,500 for the Navy and Marine Corps, and another 1,000 for Air Force and Special Operations use. The remaining 13,000 are planned for use by the Army, to replace the stop-gap up-armored HumVees currently in use. It is just about the same figure as the HumVees currently in use in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The projected cost of $25 Billion will cover acquisition through July, 2009.

However, there may not be enough material and production capacity to field the MRAPs quickly, according to the memo and Pentagon officials.

No single company can provide more than 1,200 of the vehicles per month, which is the Marines' production goal, said Chris Isleib, a Pentagon spokesman.

Adequate supplies of steel for armor and rubber for tires are also concerns, Isleib said.

Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, criticized the Pentagon for moving too slowly on the MRAP program.

"By the time we field all the vehicles we could be on our way out of Iraq," Thompson said.

Thompson said MRAPs may be needed elsewhere.

"Sadly, this vehicle will probably find plenty of uses in other places," Thompson said. "We've shown the world how to fight our army to a standstill."

The Army's rush to buy more MRAPs could affect how many other armored vehicles it buys now and in the future, according to the memo. The Army has sent officials to Iraq to determine how MRAPs will fit in with its existing fleet of armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers.

The Army is also budgeting $5.5 Billion for the M1A1 Abrams tank, M2/M3 Bradley IFV and M1126 Stryker vehicle family. The M1A1 is no longer in production, although upgrades to M1A2 standards are still being done. There is still some limited production of M2s and upgrades are being performed. The Stryker contract is continuing, although recent adverse reports from Iraq cast doubt on the vehicle’s future.

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Mine Resistant Vehicles

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Marine MRAPs Mired in Minutiae

A Minor MRAP Problem

The Super-MRAP

The Cougar MRAP

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A Strategically Influenced Nation