Gates seeks another $1.2 billion for armor in Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked Congress to redirect about $1.2 billion of the Pentagon's 2007 budget to buy special armored vehicles to protect U.S. troops in Iraq, defense officials said on Wednesday.
The additional money would increase the Pentagon's procurement of the armored vehicles by two-thirds in 2007 and enable defense officials to deliver 3,400 vehicles to commanders in Iraq by the end of December, officials said.
The Pentagon chief has made Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, one of the Defense Department's top acquisition priorities because the vehicles' V-shaped hull protects against roadside bombs. The military currently has about 500 of the vehicles in Iraq.
Officials said on Wednesday that the Pentagon's objective is to acquire as many vehicles as can be produced.
Gates met late on Tuesday with top Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and House of Representatives armed services and appropriations committees to discuss the military's need for MRAPs.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell described the meeting with lawmakers as "very positive" and said Gates is "optimistic that they will swiftly approve this reprogramming request."
The funding, which would be diverted from other Army, Air Force and Marine Corps programs, would give the Pentagon a total of $5.4 billion for purchasing MRAPs this year when combined with a $3.8 billion allocation from Congress and $400 million in other available funds.
That would allow the Defense Department to order an additional 2,650 MRAPs, increasing the total to 6,415 vehicles due for delivery by March 2008.
About 3,900 MRAPs would be delivered to the Pentagon by the end of December, officials said.
The Defense Department currently has 3,765 vehicles on order through the end of June. About 2,400 are scheduled to be delivered by December 31, 2007.
Pentagon officials said the need for MRAPs began to emerge in early 2006 when the U.S. military in Iraq noticed insurgents were shifting their roadside bomb strategy to under-belly attacks that have since claimed a disproportionate number of U.S. casualties.
