Pentagon trims armored vehicles due in O7 for Iraq

A US Marine Corps RG-31 Cougar Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle rests on its front axle after an I.E.D. detonated directly under the vehicle. The blast was pushed outward instead of straight up due to the vehicle's “V”–shaped undercarriage. Of the five service members in the vehicle, two received concussions and two others received minor burns.

U.S. troops in Iraq should receive 2,500 to 3,000 special armored vehicles by year's end if Congress approves $1.2 billion in 2007 defense spending, a top Pentagon official said on Thursday, down from 3,400 vehicles announced just a day earlier.

Pentagon research director John Young explained to reporters that although contractors are due to build 3,900 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles by the end of December, it takes about 23 days to add sensors, radar and other equipment before they are ferried to Iraq.

As a result most of the vehicles produced in December, when production is expected to reach 1,300 vehicles, would not be delivered until January.

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