Posted on 06/16/2004 9:49:02 AM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- For American military police patrolling the streets of Baghdad, the scariest thing about this war is that they seldom control their contact with the enemy.
That contact normally involves the detonation of a roadside bomb, car bomb, or rocket-propelled grenade that comes out of nowhere, fired by insurgents who quickly slip away.
It is a contact common to warfare since medieval times, brutal and instantaneous: metal smashing against metal.
And that's why MPs rolling out of the gates of Camp Graceland, on the south side of Baghdad, feel safest in a heavily armored experimental vehicle that is manufactured right down the road from Mobile, by Textron Marine and Land Systems of New Orleans.
The ASV, or Armored Security Vehicle, can go just about anywhere a Humvee can go but offers more armor and more firepower than any other vehicle in the MPs' motor pool.
Designed especially for military police applications, it has been used by companies attached to the 231st MP Battalion out of Prattville, Ala., for nearly three months now.
"It's just what the doctor ordered," said Master Sgt. Jim Hood, who oversees a team of mechanics for the 231st.
Hood, who lives in Spanish Fort with his wife, Deborah, works full-time with the Guard and volunteered to come to Iraq with the 231st.
"Our 24 ASVs have survived RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) with hardly a dent," he said. "And they're really reliable for a model this new. The one downside can be waiting for parts from the States."
Most of the Humvees used by the MPs are now "up-armors," which carry about 2 tons of steel plating and weigh a total of 10,000 pounds. The windshield and side windows are made from a ballistic plastic.
At 18 feet long and 9 feet wide, the ASV is bulkier than the Humvee and weighs in at 26,800 pounds. Its minuscule windshields and side portals make visibility difficult, but they reputedly can withstand the impact of a .50-caliber bullet.
According to Edward "E.J." McIntyre, a 45-year-old Textron technician from Carreire, Miss., most of the ASV's weight is in its armor.
"The outside of the ASV has ceramic plates sandwiched between Kevlar," said McIntyre. "That absorbs most of any impact. The plates are also angled to deflect the blast."
If a munition penetrates the exterior plates, there is a thick layer of ballistic steel beneath it.
McIntyre said work on the prototype model started in 1997, and Textron began full production in 2000. Of the 69 already produced, 63 are now in Iraq, with Textron currently building 39 more.
This past spring, Textron modified its contract with the Army for an additional 28. The contract is worth more than $14 million.
The engine is a six-cylinder turbocharged diesel that, at least on the books, pushes the ASV at a maximum speed of 63 mph.
But MPs who took an ASV out on patrol Monday said they have had it up to speeds of 70 mph on Baghdad highways.
"Acceleration is much slower than the Humvees, but once we get going we can stay up with them," said Sgt. Joshua Bortell of Girard, Ill. "If you ask me, that's a good trade-off for the extra armor."
The ASV is also less maneuverable than Humvees. The crew on Monday knocked down a portion of masonry wall as they attempted to park in a tight spot at an Iraqi police station.
The turret gunner sits inside the ASV and is fully protected by its armor, so he isn't exposed as he would be standing up in the Humvee.
An electric motor rotates the turret and weaponry. But the gunner's vision in the ASV is limited to looking through a series of periscopes and a gun sight.
The standard ASV comes equipped with a Mark 19 grenade launcher and a .50-caliber machine gun, compared to the light machine gun found on most Humvees.
Lt. Col. Chuck Gailes, commander of the 231st MP Battalion, said the ASVs proved to be too bulky their first time in the field.
"When we tried them in Bosnia and Kosovo, our experience was not very good because of the narrow city streets and much tighter corners," said Gailes, who is the chief of campus police at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. "But Baghdad is a lot more open, and the ASV works perfectly when combined on patrol with the Humvees."
The typical patrol for the 231st consists of two Humvees and an ASV.
"We use the ASV in situations that call for the extra armor or extra firepower, but we still need the greater maneuverability of the Humvees," Gailes said.
The ASV costs about $600,000 while an up-armor Humvee costs $150,000. Both normally operate with a crew of three, the driver, turret gunner and team leader, who occupies a passenger seat next to the driver.
The Humvee can carry an additional two passengers; the much more cramped ASV, just one more.
And even the ASV is not impregnable. In the first week of June, two soldiers from New Jersey's 89th MP Brigade were killed while in an ASV home-based at Camp Mule Skinner, on the southeast side of Baghdad. The vehicle reportedly struck an especially powerful roadside bomb, which insurgents may have followed up with a large RPG round.
"Whatever caused that damage had to be huge," said McIntyre, who spends most of his time at Camp Graceland, living and working with ASV mechanics. "It's the first time anything has penetrated that armor."
Order more now.
Ooooo Muttly WANT !
Just the thing for his trips to the mailbox.
What an excellent "fashion statement."
Wow. It even LOOKS like Muttly.
Oooooooooo.......
Excellent.
The HMMWV was never intended to be Up-Armored and makes a piss poor direct-combat vehicle.
Great for moving slow drivers, those that drive in formation, slow in the left lane, and whoever dares not dimming their lights behind me, I'll dim them for them.
Yeah, me wanna one too...
8~>
ping
Kill every combat aged male in the city when they act up
Thanks for the pics. Saved me from hunting them.
In rush hour traffic, nothing beats more armor between you and the other guy.
We need to order more of them, UNcancel the program -even if it means that the ASV will embarrass the Stryker.
(Which is seemingly one of the reasons the ASV program was 'canceled' to begin with?)
Cadillac Gage built the V100 and Textron owns Cadillac Gage.
I love this, the V-100's grandson taking it to the scum.! And built in da East, hawrt, no less. (New Orleans East)
Cheaper than a Stryker, yet able to withstand RPG attacks (unlike Strykers).
Hmmm...which should we choose?!
ping
"The one downside can be waiting for parts from the States."
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