See the Take Down request and response over this article here.
In news sure to please most, the MRAP(1) program is saving lives in Iraq. The photos below show the devastation wraught on the MRAP in Iraq. According to reports, all crew members survived the attack by a 500lb IED. The IED exploded destroying the outside but leaving the crew quarters unbreached.
(See below the photo’s for a political note on the MRAP program).
From the email I received with the photo’s attached -
This is one of the new “hardened” MRAP vehicles that was hit by a 500 lb IED. The vehicle was totally destroyed, but EVERYONE IN THE VEHICLE WALKED AWAY. Note the unusual construction of the bottom of the hardened Pathfinder APC. Note the bottom looks like the hull of a ship. The blast picked the truck up and turned it around! The driver got some broken ribs (see the photo of the steering wheel), but that’s it. Everyone walked away from a 500 lb explosion directly beneath their vehicle.
I was not able to find a news report on this… can you imagine? Actually I can. I did find this recent story about four troops who were injured (not killed) in a smaller MRAP, the RG-31.
In a related story (no photo’s but similar outcome) soldiers with the 833rd Engineer Company were in a RG-31 (a smaller, two axle MRAP) when an IED exploded next to the vehicle. According to the news report on October 14th soldiers were injured Saturday morning while conducting combat operations in Salah Din Province near Samarra, said Lt. Col. Gregory Hapgood Jr., the Iowa Guard’s public affairs officer.
All four were evacuated to a U.S. military hospital near Balad for treatment, Hapgood said. Two soldiers were evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and two Guardsmen were treated returned to duty, he said.
“They were in an RG-31 armored vehicle,” said Lt. Col. Gregory Hapgood, chief spokesman for the Iowa National Guard. “If they’d been in a Humvee, they would have been killed. A Humvee couldn’t have withstood the explosion.”
Here are the pictures.
All 10 images displayed in full at Corvette Forum and here(2) .
For those arriving late, the images showed(3) a 6 axle MRAP that had been over a 500LB IED at the time of detonation. The exterior of the vehicle was destroyed, with only the rear axle still attached to the MRAP. The engine had been blasted out of the MRAP and deposited some 30-50 yards away, fuel cells were leaking but no secondary explosion due to fuel. The armored crew area was intact with no breaches. The only visible interior damage was to the steering wheel and shifter caused by the drivers body contacting it.
My purpose in showing the images was to convey that, while sill a danger, IED attacks are now survivable when troops are in the MRAP vehicles(4) .
I said most above (the 1st sentence of the article) based on an article I ran across in the Des Moines Register. In it, the author explains that the Democratic leaders are not happy with the MRAP program. Even when it was not tied to Iraq War Funding, Senators Clinton and Obama voted against it. Dem. Senator Biden voted for it and has said the vote made him “the bastard at the family picnic.” Anti-war activists held “Impeach Biden” signs when he visited Iowa City. His staffers warned he would “get his skin ripped off” if he attended an event in Council Bluffs.All because of the vote. And he says he doesn’t care.“As long as there’s one American kid over there, I’m voting the money for these things,” Biden said in a chat the other day during a stop in Des Moines. “It’s the one way we can save lives before getting them out.”To bad I’m not a Dem. I actually like Biden for his stand here.I have originally posted on the MRAP program here and here.Update: In looking at the images and a conversation with another I think that the original sender of the email I received on this was a bit optimistic about the yield of the explosive device. I wont call it an out and out fabrication but I will post the following points brought up by my friend -
- it was not a 500# IED, no such thing. a 500# bomb would have cratered that entire road. More likely is was an IED with a 5# explosive device (more than enough to wipe out a regular vehicle.
- If you not the damage, it was hit on the front end. The vehicle was in a state of disassembly at the time. The engine picture was not from that vehicle (too small) and note that the oil pan was undamaged yet the wheels seem blown off.
- The cab areas and the drive line show that the vehicle explosion happened just under engine on the driver side, yet the drive lines are sheared, these are not sheared but disassembled.
- This is a 6 by (6 sets of wheels), yet are disassembled, in an area not damaged by the blast
- Note the vehicles in the line up in the pictures. If this had been a 500# bomb (IED), they would all have been destroyed. ( It would have had to be an aerial bomb or missile to be that size).
I was taken in too. This appeared to be a glowing report of the safety of MRAP vehicles and in fact they are superior, but this was not an accurate story, and those in the field quickly pointed out the evidence in the pictures and the story was discredited.
I believe that the charge was larger than 5# simply due to the amount of asphault / concrete debris in a large area around the MRAP. But to be honest, the images available do not show the entire area and any craters, if there, are unknown.
All footnotes are for reference only. These have no bearing on the information presented above and may include: side thoughts, more links or just more scattered information. Read at your own risk.
- Mine Resistant Ambush Protected [↩]
- Cached Google page [↩]
- I have since reposted the images after finding them in multiple forms on the internet. Links to where you can find the images in full are above. [↩]
- The email was forwarded to me and contained the above quoted text as well as a PowerPoint presentation showing the images. I extracted the images from the slides and uploaded them here. [↩]
End Footnotes
the vehicle was moving at 50mph down the road a deep bury went off the force blew off the front end and scooped out the engine and trans leaving the powerdivider the v-hull was strong enough to hold but the blast went under the vehicle also shearing off the front and middle axle look at the pics again were you see the drive shaft is the slip yoke when the axle sheared the mount bolt it just poped off look at the hull warpage around the rear door look were the steering gear is sheared off on the output shaft this was a monster blast you dumb fuck! im an ase cetified medium/heavy master tech and i am working as an MRAP fsr in iraq fob rustimiya! i see these trucks saving these soldiers lives everyday you moron so shut the fuck up! you dont know shit about this!
Comment by andrew sullivan — April 4, 2008 @ 1:38 PM
Now, as I said in the post, Andrew; “Update: In looking at the images and a conversation with another I think that the original sender of the email I received on this was a bit optimistic about the yield of the explosive device. I wont call it an out and out fabrication but I will post the following points brought up by my friend -” and then I went on to post, verbatim, from his email. Those are HIS 5 points. My comment was below that, it reads -
“I believe that the charge was larger than 5# simply due to the amount of asphault / concrete debris in a large area around the MRAP. But to be honest, the images available do not show the entire area and any craters, if there, are unknown.”
In other words, he said that it was a small explosive. I said it was larger than a 5#.
I am PRO MRAP. Apparently you didn’t read the posting and only zeroed in on my friends comments to me. So much the loss for you.
Again, as I said in the post – “My purpose in showing the images was to convey that, while sill a danger, IED attacks are now survivable when troops are in the MRAP vehicles.”
And, Andrew, thanks for sharing your opinion of me.
Comment by admin — April 6, 2008 @ 1:28 PM
[...] Biden demanded those vehicles, voting against the radical-left Democratic lock-step: In [the Des Moines Register], the author explains that the Democratic leaders are not happy with the MRAP program. Even when it was not tied to Iraq War Funding, Senators Clinton and Obama voted against it. Dem. Senator Biden voted for it and has said the vote made him “the bastard at the family picnic.” Anti-war activists held “Impeach Biden” signs when he visited Iowa City. His staffers warned he would “get his skin ripped off” if he attended an event in Council Bluffs. All because of the vote. And he says he doesn’t care.“As long as there’s one American kid over there, I’m voting the money for these things,” Biden said in a chat the other day during a stop in Des Moines. “It’s the one way we can save lives before getting them out.” [...]
Pingback by Obama-Biden Ticket: Obama Not Ready. Just Ask His V.P. « Start Thinking Right — August 23, 2008 @ 8:16 AM
[...] Biden demanded those vehicles, voting against the radical-left Democratic lock-step: In [the Des Moines Register], the author explains that the Democratic leaders are not happy with the MRAP program. Even when it was not tied to Iraq War Funding, Senators Clinton and Obama voted against it. Dem. Senator Biden voted for it and has said the vote made him “the bastard at the family picnic.” Anti-war activists held “Impeach Biden” signs when he visited Iowa City. His staffers warned he would “get his skin ripped off” if he attended an event in Council Bluffs. All because of the vote. And he says he doesn’t care.“As long as there’s one American kid over there, I’m voting the money for these things,” Biden said in a chat the other day during a stop in Des Moines. “It’s the one way we can save lives before getting them out.” [...]
Pingback by Obama-Biden Ticket: Obama Not Ready. Just Ask His V.P. « American Sentinel — August 23, 2008 @ 8:19 AM