Marines 300, Bombers 0 (Updated)

For all the times we write here in the DANGER ROOM about screwed-up, over-priced technology, it's a relief to hear about something that does work, particularly when it's a life-saving technology. In that vein, USA Today hasan article with some encouraging statistics about the new armored vehicles that have been deployed to Iraq.

The vehicles -- blast-deflecting, v-shaped hulls -- are designed to be more resistant to IED attacks, and from the looks of things, they're working well:

In more than 300 attacks since last year, no Marines have died while riding in new fortified armored vehicles the Pentagon hopes to rush to Iraq in greater numbers this year, a top Marine commander in Anbar province said.

Brig. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander of coalition forces in Anbar province, said the Marines have tracked attacks on the vehicles since January 2006. The vehicles' raised, V-shaped hulls deflect the force of blasts from homemade bombs buried in roadways.

There's been an average of less than one injured Marine per attack on the vehicles, Allen said. There have been 1,100 attacks on coalition vehicles during the period in Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.

Attacks on other vehicles caused more than two casualties per attack, including deaths, Allen said.

The Marines provided statistics for injuries involving the new vehicles, but they did not release the number of deaths involving Humvees. The Marines do not release causes of death because they do not want to give the enemy combat intelligence.

Pentagon casualty records show that of the 60 combat deaths this month in Iraq, 35 troops have been killed by homemade bombs, which the Pentagon calls improvised explosive devices (IEDs). None was a Marine. At least 16 of the dead were riding in Humvees, according to records and published reports.

IEDs are responsible for 70% of U.S. casualties in Iraq, Pentagon records show.

The Marines operate about 100 of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles and want an additional 3,000 MRAPs in Anbar province. Marine Corps Commandant James Conway told the Joint Chiefs of Staff last month that he wants to require every Marine traveling outside bases to ride in the MRAPs.

"It's a great vehicle in term of protecting troops," Allen said.

The challenge now for the military is to get enough money to buy all the vehicles it needs (the numbers now are nearly 8,000 at a cost of over $8 billion).

UPDATE: The 0-for-300 number might be true, says Michael Goldfarb over at the Worldwide Standard. But it's "misleading," too.

American soldiers have died in
IED attacks on MRAP vehicles, at least three were killed last fall while riding in a Force Protection vehicle according to the company's vice president, Mike Aldrich, who I spoke with a few moths ago. The details of that attack remain classified, but we should not foster the illusion that MRAP is a silver-bullet solution to the IED problem...

I'm as big a supporter of MRAP as anyone, even though the program will cost a fortune and, with nine different suppliers, is likely to be a logistical nightmare. [But] I worry that what is clearly a defensive technology will distract from what ought to be the primary response to the IED problem: going out and killing bad guys. The only way to neutralize the threat is to go after the networks that are bringing these weapons to bear, building them, planting them, and detonating them.

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* Marine Corps Denies Drones to Troops
* Which Ride Takes Bomb-Blasts Best?
* Bomb-Proof Vehicles: Why the Delay?
* Army Junking Future for New Rides?
* Iraq's Tricked-Out Armored Cars
* Shortages for New Armored Vehicles?
* Armored Vehicle Demand Blows Up
* 4,100 More Armored Rides