07.21.05

Senate Boosts Armored Humvee Funding by $445 Million

WASHINGTON, DC – Thursday the Senate approved an additional $445 million to equip Army and Marine vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan with armor capable of withstanding roadside bombs.

"Roadside bombs have injured and claimed the lives of many of our brave soldiers," said U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a co-sponsor of the amendment. "We owe it to our troops to make sure they have the equipment and protection they need. We send the world's best trained soldiers into combat; they deserve nothing less than the best equipment."

The Pentagon has come under fire since last summer over reports that many soldiers overseas were being transported in unarmored High-Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (Humvees). Some soldiers have even resorted to applying makeshift armor made of scrap metal and sandbags for extra protection.

It has been estimated that since May 2003, forty percent of deaths in Iraq have been related to roadside bombs and explosions that destroy the insufficiently-armored vehicles.

Cantwell hopes that additional funding for added armor will provide the protection our men and women overseas need.

Of the $445 million, $340.4 million is for the Marine Corps to purchase new, up-armored Humvees to send to Iraq and Afghanistan, and to beef up existing Humvees with add-on armor kits. The other $105 million would go to the Army for the same purposes.

The approved measure amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, which already includes at least $120 million for the Army to buy and improve military Humvees. The bill is expected to pass the Senate before the end of the month.

Additionally, Cantwell helped secure $150 million for new, up-armored Humvees, and $611 million for armor kits when the Senate passed the emergency war appropriations bill. The President approved the funding and signed the bill into law in May.

Also in May, Cantwell sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld urging him to consider purchasing armor kits made of new composite-based technologies. These kits offer the advantage of being light-weight, yet still as strong as steel. Armor Systems International (ASI), a company based in Vancouver, Washington, designs such composite technology for Humvee armor. While visiting ASI, Cantwell met with Sergeant Adam Furno of the Washington National Guard. Furno had recently returned home from Iraq, where he personally applied makeshift armor to his Humvee.

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