Blast-Resistant Trucks Head to Iraq, Slowly

March 14, 2007 — -- In Ladson, S.C., the military industrial machine is in overdrive as hundreds of welders and steelworkers labor at a white-hot pace to deliver better armor to U.S. troops in Iraq.

There is huge demand for blast-resistant vehicles that protect troops from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and the craftsmen at the Ladson-based company Force Protection are working to hard to deliver.

"We are seeing commanders on the ground saying, 'We know what works. Get it to us,'" said Mike Aldrich, vice president of Force Protection, which manufactures blast- and mine-protected armored vehicles.

Military officials say they understand the need for more armored vehicles and are working to deliver them to the front lines.

"I believe I have a moral imperative to provide these vehicles to our troop. We are turning the crank as quickly as we can to provide those assets to the operational forces," said Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of the Marine Corps Systems Command.

New Design Improves Safety

The vehicles built in Ladson -- the Cougar and the mine-clearing Buffalo -- are proving to be the best protection yet against the deadly scourge of IEDs. The trucks' success is due largely to a fundamental change in thinking and design.

In contrast to the low-riding, flat-bellied Humvee, which -- even when armored -- offers little protection from a buried bomb, the Cougar is heavier and higher. Its wedge-shaped bottom deflects the energy and debris that typically come from an IED blast, and forces them outward away from the troops inside the vehicle's reinforced capsule.

"What is different about these vehicles is right here from the rear, you can see the pronounced V of the steel hull," Aldrich said.

One group of Army explosives experts just back from Baghdad has experienced the protective power of the the Cougar firsthand -- each has been hit by IEDs multiple times.

"Really, I heard the muffled sound and was like, 'What was that?' And he said, 'I think we just got hit.' And I just kind of kept going, checked out the truck, we were good and just kept rolling. It doesn't affect that truck at all," Army Sgt. Charles Deans said of his experience in the Cougar.

The Cougar has been so effective that some are now skeptical about even riding in standard military Humvees.

"In my own opinion, I would never want to ride in a Humvee again," said Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Hardiek.

The V-shaped hull design was actually conceived by the South African military more than 20 years ago.

"We build, firstly, a very sound capsule in which the people inside will survive, and then we stick on the rest. We build a truck around that," said Vernon Joynt, the chief scientist at Force Protection and one of the country's leading blast experts.

"This particular safety vehicle still has a perfect record," Joynt said of the Cougar.

Cougar Delivery Has Been Slow

The first Cougars were shipped in late 2004 to Marine engineers in Fallujah, and to date, no one has been killed in an IED blast while riding in a Cougar.

More than two years after that first shipment, however, only a few hundred of the 15-ton lifesavers are available to U.S. troops -- a pace that is too slow for some.

"At the pace at which we are making our investments in protection, we will probably have a very good vehicle fielded just about the time our forces come out of the country," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute. "If we don't get as many of these vehicles as fast as possible, soldiers are going to die unnecessarily."

In an effort to quicken the pace, the Defense Department asked nine contractors to work on similar designs. But for now, the Force Protection craftsmen in Ladson can turn out only about 50 of the trucks per month.

Some at the Force Protection plant have extra incentive to get the job done right.

"I have a sister that's over there in Iraq," said Carrie Reavenell, who works as a welder at Force Protection. "I know my work represents not only my family member but everybody else's family member that's over at war at this time."

The Pentagon says it will take several months for large numbers of these vehicles to make it to Iraq -- cold comfort to the troops serving there now, who are just hoping to make it home alive.