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Defense Daily
April 30, 2004
An Army panel this
week approved a request from users in Iraq for additional M1117 Armored Security
Vehicles (ASV) to be used by Military Police, a service spokesman told Defense
Daily yesterday.
The Army currently has funding for 104 ASVs and will
provide for production of 28 more M1117s at the direction of the Army Strategic
Priorities Board (ASPB), which reviewed the request from forces in Iraq, Maj.
Gary Tallman said.
Tallman said the Army must still find a funding source
for the vehicles.
The wheeled, 4X4 M1117 is built by Textron's [TXT]
Marine & Land business based in New Orleans, La. So far, 69 vehicles have been
produced, 63 of which are operating in Iraq, in a variety of security missions.
Right now the ASVs are being produced at very low rates, about one every
three weeks, but the Army is looking at accelerating production of the remaining
vehicles plus the new ones, Tallman said. How quickly production can be stepped
up is still under review, Jay Johnson, director of business development with Textron
Systems, told Defense Daily yesterday.
The M1117 is more heavily armed
than an up-armored High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle, better known as
a Humvee, and is usually manned by a crew of three or four. In security missions,
one ASV and two Humvees are combined to make a squad, Johnson said. Unlike a Humvee,
soldiers can fire back at the enemy with 40mm and .50 caliber weapons from inside
the vehicle.
Some of the security missions being performed by the ASV
include VIP protection, convoy and police support, and to help secure facilities
and road junctions in Iraq, Johnson said.
So far, according to Johnson,
the ASVs in Iraq are performing well. Two have been attacked by rocket-propelled
grenades, one of which was deflected while the other exploded but did not penetrate
the hull, he said. The vehicle hull is angled in different directions to help
avoid a direct hit but the armor is not designed to withstand a blow from an RPG.
Also, two vehicles have had improvised explosive devices blow up beneath
them, one of which blew out all four tires, Johnson said. In that incident, the
crew inside was still able to drive the vehicle back to its base on the flats.
There have been no soldiers killed or wounded while operating the ASVs, he said.
Any vehicles that have been damaged in combat have been repaired and put back
into service, he said.
Under the current contract, Textron is supplying
the ASVs at $571,000 a copy. The price for the additional 28 vehicles would likely
go up a little, Johnson said.
- Calvin Biesecker
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