Vehicle targeted in attack on Marines better suited for beach landings

[bemildred]

The obvious question being, of course, WTF is it doing there?
Notice the Brigadier Weasel's comments.

WASHINGTON

Experts say the 14 Marines killed today in Iraq were patrolling desert terrain in a vehicle better suited for beach landings.

The amphibious assault vehicle that carried the Marines is designed to carry troops in water operations from ship to shore, then operate on the beach and inland.

John Pike is a defense analyst with the think tank Global-Security.org. He says the amphibious vehicle's design can protect troops against small arms fire, but not a direct or indirect hit from a large explosion.

Army Brigadier General Carter Ham told a Pentagon press conference that he knows of no data showing the amphibious vehicle has been more vulnerable to insurgent bombs.

Ohio News

[Spinzonner]

1. Well, you know what Rummy said

You go to war with the death traps you have.

[rodeodance]

2. I hear lots of equip is rusting and in need of repair. Another indication

that the military is/was not prepared for this adventure.

[bemildred]

3. Yeah.

It's gone on a bit longer than anticipated, and we don't mass produce this stuff like we did in WWII say, and I gather the financial stress has been a problem too, and we are short of seasoned troops, I guess.

Not a very auspicious situation.

[54anickel]

4. Why do I have this wierd feeling that we are somehow experiencing

what the folks in the USSR did just before she went belly-up?

On edit - Osama is winning. What was that he said - "The US will be reduced to a mere shadow of itself".

[bemildred]

6. A lot of differences, some samenesses.

I'm trying to think what Iraq will look like a year from now,
and I'm drawing a blank.

[wakeme2008]

5. pic

profile here http://federalvoice.dscc.dla.mil/federalvoice/041020/weapon.html

[leftchick]

7. More about these vehicles here....

sounds like they are scraping the barrel....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/03/national/w145147D80.DTL

<snip>


"You could certainly question whether an amphibious vehicle is the most appropriate ... to be driving around in a desert," said John Pike, defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, a private think tank.

With tracks instead of wheels, the vehicle is designed to be dropped from ships for coastal assaults, then move through surf at a speed of 6 mph. It cruises on land at 20 mph to 30 mph.

But its biggest drawback in Iraq, analysts said, is that because it must be able to stay afloat, its armor plating is lighter than that in heavier vehicles used by the Army. Marines deployed in Iraq have often criticized the protection provided by the amphibious vehicles.

<snip>

"It was not designed primarily to drive around in the desert hundreds of miles from the beach," he said. "If they had been riding in an Abrams (tank) this probably wouldn't have happened, but there's not enough Abrams to go around."

<snip>

"The crux of this issue is that the Marine force really isn't very well designed for the type of fight it's facing in Iraq," said Loren Thompson, defense analyst at Lexington Institute think tank.

This is outrageous! Where is that batshit crazy repuke duncan hunter about this?!?

:(

[Ian David]

8. One of THESE??

[ovidsen]

9. Hindsight: They would have been safer in a Bradley

But I've read the Marines have few, if any M2s or M3s at their disposal. They're strictly for the Army, dontcha know. These deaths take Rummy's analogy about going in with the best Army (Marines) you have to a new low. I did not know that Marines were patrolling the Iraqi desert in what amount to slightly pimped Chevy suburbans that can float.

[dcfirefighter]

10. The marines typically don't have much armor

the Very heavy Abrams, which is a tank, not a personnel carrier; the LAV-25 which is wheeled and lightly armored, and the AAV, which is amphibious & tracked. Of the vehicles the USMC has available for the task at hand, the Amphibious Assault Vehicle is probably the best - it's got moderate armor, and a low ground pressure, so it's less likely to set off landmines.

Of course, if they weren't pouring ridiculous amounts of money into the Osprey boondoggle, and the Advanced AAV pipe dream, they may have had the money to upgrade to real APCs, or at least gotten more applique armor for their existing ones.

[ovidsen]

11. Thanks for the clarification.

I understand that being highly mobile (as Marines are supposed to be) generally means lightly armored. It's just a damn shame that, after 2 years of IEDs in Iraq, someone isn't retrofitting more than just Humvees with heavier armor. Or lending the Marines some hardbody Bradleys.

[DeepModem Mom]

12. This is outrageous -- unacceptable! nt

[Moderator]

13. kick

[lebkuchen]

14. Amphibious vehicle easy prey in Iraq (14 dead Marines' vehicle)

The 14 Marines killed in Iraq Wednesday were riding in a 28-ton, lightly armored amphibious behemoth that experts say was never intended for inland urban operations, where it is one of the more vulnerable combat vehicles on the battlefield

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1123152954166290.xml&coll=2

[lebkuchen]

15. Amphibious vehicle easy prey in Iraq (14 dead Marines' vehicle)

This thread has been combined with another thread.

Click here to read this message in its new location.