General Information
There is no common MRAP vehicle design, as there are several vendors, each with its own vehicle. Originally Brig. General Michael Brogan, and now Brig. General Frank Kelley, Commander, United States Marine Corps Systems Command, is in charge of the Marine MRAP program. Mr. Kevin Fahey, U.S. Army Program Executive Officer for Command Support and Combat Service Support, manages the Army MRAP program. The Marine Corps had planned to replace all Humvees in combat zones with MRAP vehicles, although this appears to have changed. As armored vehicles are considered an "urgent need" in Afghanistan, this program is primarily funded under an "emergency war budget". On 8 May 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the acquisition of MRAPs is the Department of Defense's highest priority, so for fiscal year 2007 $1.1 billion is earmarked for MRAP. Gates decided to ramp up MRAP orders after the Marines reported in 2004 that no troops had died in more than 300 IED attacks on Cougars As of May 6, 2008 eight soldiers had been reported killed in the thousands of MRAPs in Iraq, according to news service Knight Ridder.
In June 2008, USA Today reported that roadside bomb attacks and fatalities were down almost 90% partially due to MRAPs. "They've taken hits, many, many hits that would have killed soldiers and Marines in unarmored Humvees", according to Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Maj. General Rick Lynch, who commanded a division in Baghdad, told USA Today the 14-ton MRAPs have forced insurgents to build bigger, more sophisticated bombs to knock out the vehicles. Those bombs take more time and resources to build and set up, which gives U.S. forces a better chance of catching the insurgents in the act and stopping them. The Taliban is also focusing their efforts away from anti-material IEDs and more toward smaller anti-personnel bombs that target soldiers on patrol.
This program is very similar to the U.S. Army's Medium Mine Protected Vehicle program.
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