Defense Department Designs ‘Baby MRAP’ for War in Afghanistan
Ask any soldier who’s been to both countries: Afghanistan is not Iraq. It’s a different war against a different enemy in a different country with an entirely different terrain and altitude.
One thing is the same, though. The Improvised Explosive Device — the deadly “IED” roadside bombs that blew up Humvees and the soldiers inside them along the dusty roads of Iraq — is an equally effective weapon in the rocky steeps of Afghanistan.
When the Humvee proved unable to withstand IED attacks in Iraq, the U.S. military built a new vehicle — the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) — to replace it. And like a neglected sibling, the troops in Afghanistan automatically acquired the MRAP as a hand-me-down. It’s the wrong vehicle for the new war.