Hunter's Gun Truck - One reason for the Iraq armor shortage:

opinionjournal.com ^ | Tuesday, December 14, 2004 | BRENDAN MINITER

[crushelits]

One reason for the Iraq armor shortage: The military is too thorough.

A few weeks ago Rep. Duncan Hunter handed me a reason that has largely escaped media attention on why our troops in Iraq don't have all the armor protection they need. It was a piece of ballistic glass, roughly the size of a small dinner plate. But as it was four sheets of glass glued together, it was also very thick and extremely heavy. But I peered through it, and it was as transparent as a normal windshield. In Iraq, this glass is saving lives because it can stop bullets and shrapnel from roadside bombs.

The problem, the House Armed Services Committee chairman explained, is that a ballistic windshield is too heavy for some of the military's vehicles. The window frames simply cannot support it without being reinforced. In many instances that means the soldiers are driving vehicles with regular windshields as the bureaucracy works out the logistics of sending over vehicles that can handle ballistic windshields or finds a way to retrofit the vehicles now in theater. It's this waiting that has unnerved Mr. Hunter.

While the troops wait, he complained, the military could install two-inch-thick ballistic glass--half as thick as is optimal. Nearly every vehicle could support the weight of this slimmed-down ballistic glass, and it would likely stop 80% of the shrapnel that penetrates ordinary windshields. But the military is loath to adopt an interim, if imperfect, remedy. It prefers to wait for the "100% solution," Mr. Hunter said. In other words, in military procurement, the perfect has become the enemy of the good. More...

[hedgie]

Used in Vietnam -- Nothing new here.

[Chode]

Steel Wheels...

[hardride]

Vietnam Gun Trucks book http://www.geocities.com/afpmuseum/bkhride.html It is uncanny to see that the vehicles are done up almost the same way except for having mini-guns and Quad 50 Cal. mounts.

[meadsjn]

...but so is limited resources competing for system improvements, operations tempo, soldier pay, infrastructure, logistics, etc. I think the Army is doing pretty damned good with what Congress has given them.

This experiment is rather unique in human history - attempting to wage a war, while simultaneously draining the wealth, technology, and productive capability of the country and giving it all to our most likely enemies in the next war. Ain't MBA modern math just a wonder to behold?

[animoveritas]

Don't think this is unique. Same issues with War of 1812, Spanish-American War, Indian Wars, WWI, Korea... The US has the industrial contingency capacity to do more, the challenge is balancing the effort with the materialistic trappings that many Americans equate with goodness.

As for the future threat, we never know. Remember cash and carry? Japan bombed Pearl Harbor with the metal we sold them from the bankrupt Pennsylvania RR.