[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Been seeing a lot of these lately.

[R. Scott]

A GI’s vacation RV?

[Thunder 6]

Thanks for the ping.

I have, or have worked with just about every armored vehicle in Iraq. All have strengths and weaknesses based on the mission and threat. None are a magic fix to the IED threat.

There are three great truths regarding the IED threat here in Iraq: 1) IED's will never go away completely...they are too easy to manufacture and emplace. 2) The armor we have works, and has saved many of my soldier's lives, but there are other things a unit must do to mitigate the threat such as movement techniques and reconnaissance, and 3) You can have the best armored vehicles in the world (and we do...the M1A1 MBT), but the enemy may be able to make a bomb big enough to destroy it. Which brings us back to #2.

Bottom line is this: Any technological improvements to armored vehicles are great, but are not the end-all solution to the IED fight. Better intel fidelity and precision engagement systems will help. The army can buy any of these vehicles it wants, but what is it willing pay for, and will those vehicles fit the threat we face the next time?

That said, I am all about new toys!

Regards,