Defense acquisitions

I am critical of the Stryker combat vehicle. It has its place, but that place is not the narrow streets and RPG traps in Iraq.

The up-armored HMMWV is not adequate to that task. Attempts to apply more armor to the Hummer so it can duke it out in Iraq more than doubles its cost and exacerbates the wear on its pneumatic tires.

We have many M113 armored personnel carriers, that fare better against RPGs and IEDs than the up-armored Hummer, can turn within their own footprint (the wheeled Stryker cannot), will support applique armor better than either, is air-liftable and air-droppable---today. And the M113 Gavins are bought and paid for, while we have to wait for Strykers to be manufactured and Hummers to be uparmored. We can probably fight effectively in Iraq in Gavins we have now, while others are being improved.