Quote:
Originally Posted by MtnGoat
True, but all these MRAPs have made IEDs bigger now.
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Which makes an even greater arguement for MRAPs in highly saturated IED areas...I doubt that there are more than a few of us in the regiment that don't know several of our brothers that have suffered through IED strikes...looking at the number and severity of injuries of IED strikes among our brethren in MRAPs vs any variant of HMMWV, surely you can't argue that the outcomes have been better in HMMWVs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MtnGoat
I liked the MATVs and the RG33, But we don't fight like we did with GMVs. Guys have when been in fire fights and not know they were being shot at until their glass got hit.
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You will get no argument from me that SA from an MRAP pales in comparison to riding in a GMV...up armor HMMWVs fall in the middle in my experience...the MATVs are much closer to an optimum solution of maneuverability/survivability
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Reaper
It is an oddball Phillips head screwdriver in the tool box.
Great for a very specific mission set, not so much for most other stuff.
Pretty pricey for a truck with a V-hull bottom and armor.
Unlike the HMMWV.
TR
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I'm not arguing that they are expensive. My argument is that the authors' thesis that the MRAPs are a "boondoggle" and "not worth the money" and that "...tactical wheeled vehicles with medium amounts of protection are just as effective as heavily protected vehicles at reducing casualties..." is incorrect when it comes to your/my/our brothers survivability in an IED strike.
Please don't get me wrong, I am not some MRAP fan boy and I do agree with the authors that there are a large number of FOBBITs pimping these $600,000 rides that have little-to-no use for them and derive no added combat survivabilty from them since they rarely venture off the FOB.
I agree with you that the MRAP variants like the RG33 are not as multi-functional as a HMMWV (that they can't be used across a range of environments and terrain vs the HMMWV).
Having spent my entire career in the Regiment in Asia (outside of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan), the MRAP would have even less utility in the jungles, restricted terrain, narrow/non-existent roads, and deep mud of that AO.