Army shuns system to combat RPGs
Posted in H.L. News, Main Blog (All Posts) on September 8th, 2006 8:45 am by HL
Israel has come up with a system that can stop RPG’s which are a favorite of Insurgents in Iraq, and Afghanistan. RPGs have killed 170 U.S. Soldiers, but we are not going to use the system called “Trophy” because the Army already gave a fat contract to one of their favorite defense companies for a similar system that won’t be ready for another 5 years. When I say the defense industry gets rich off the war, (with plenty of Kickbacks of course) this is what I am talking about.
Army shuns system to combat RPGs
MSNBC
Excerpt:
Trophy is the brainchild of Rafael, Israel’s Armament Development Authority, which has conducted more than 400 tests and found that the system has “well above [a] 90 percent†probability of killing RPGs and even more sophisticated anti-tank weapons,
OFT decided to buy several Trophies — which cost $300,000-$400,000 each — for battlefield trials on Strykers in Iraq next year.
That plan immediately ran into a roadblock: Strong opposition from the U.S. Army. Why? Pentagon sources tell NBC News that the Army brass considers the Israeli system a threat to an Army program to develop an RPG defense system from scratch.
The $70 million contract for that program had been awarded to an Army favorite, Raytheon. Raytheon’s contract constitutes a small but important part of the Army’s massive modernization program called the Future Combat System (FCS), which has been under fire in Congress on account of ballooning costs and what critics say are unorthodox procurement practices.
Col. Donald Kotchman, who heads the Army’s program to develop an RPG defense, acknowledges that Raytheon’s system won’t be ready for fielding until 2011 at the earliest.
H.L.s Take
The Bush administration cares not about the soldiers on the ground dying for the lies. They only care about their buddies in the oil, and weapons industries. Its one big happy family with money flowing both ways, while the soldiers die, and our tax money is funneled away.
September 8th, 2006 at 9:00 am
This is disgusting. And are we planning on still fighting Iraqi insurgents in 2011?!
September 8th, 2006 at 11:04 am
Yeah this is total BS. I almost wonder if the system coming from Israel has something to do with it. I understand wanting to keep americans in jobs, it should not overshadow weapons systems that can keep soldiers safer.
September 9th, 2006 at 1:53 am
I should thank my lucky stars that I don’t have to serve in the Army. This system may neutralize a common weapon of the insurgency. Even if the system has a 50% success rate, wouldn’t it still make sense to try to test Trophy under fire, in the field, and make improvements? Don’t forget, for every US soldier killed there are AT LEAST 10 wounded, often maimed or worse. I can easily see the costs of a $70 million contract dwarfed by the logistics of caring for the families of over 1500 dead and wounded soldiers over the next few years, let alone the costs of replacing helicopters shot down with rpg’s.
There must be something more to this story, it’s just indefensible. Somebody call Rush.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:51 am
If you voted Republican or the misfit Bush, you are responsible for all GI, Iraqi and countless other deaths. It’s that simple. Take that to your grave!