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Wednesday, July 4, 2007

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WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has approved a speedup in production of mine-resistant vehicles to provide troops with greater protection against roadside bombs in Iraq, officials said Tuesday.

In a statement the Pentagon later corrected, Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference that a Joint Staff group had approved buying more than 20,000 of the vehicles. Other officials said later that no specific new number was approved.

"There's no final production number approved for the whole program," said Lt. Col. Gary Tallman, a Joint Staff spokesman.

The Joint Requirements Oversight Council, with representatives from all of the military services, had previously approved buying 7,774 vehicles. Although Army officials have said their service has a need for as many as 17,700 and the Marines want 3,700, the oversight council did not approve those numbers, Tallman said.

Instead, the oversight council last Friday approved a strategy that calls for maximizing production through the 2008 budget year, at a projected cost of $8.4 billion. At a later date the oversight council will consider whether to adjust the production rate and whether to exceed the initial target of 7,774 vehicles, Tallman said.

The Pentagon is challenging the defense industry to produce the new vehicles faster than originally proposed.

"I know that the commanders in the field want those produced as quickly as possible - get them out to our soldiers and Marines that are out there in the fight," Wiggins said.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week that he is demanding an accelerated effort to field the mine-resistant armored vehicle, called the MRAP, and get it to Iraq in large numbers to replace the more vulnerable Humvee utility vehicle used by soldiers and Marines. It is so urgent, he said, that the first vehicles built will be flown to Iraq.

© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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