WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a letter to the Secretary of the Army, Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today expressed her concerns over a media report that claims the Army may be risking the lives of American troops by not procuring an available and effective system against the threat of rocket-propelled grenades.
“I am extremely troubled by the allegations that the Army has blocked a plan to provide U.S. troops more protection against deadly rocket-propelled grenades when a system apparently exists that would save troops’ lives,” wrote Senator Collins.
The following is the full text of the letter.
September 6, 2006
The Honorable Francis J. Harvey
Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0101
Dear Secretary Harvey:
Yesterday, NBC News aired the results of its extensive investigation that exposed the disturbing revelation that the Army may be placing our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan at unnecessary risk of injury or death by not procuring an available and effective system against the threat of rocket-propelled grenades.
According to the NBC report, U.S. military commanders on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan placed an urgent operational request over one year ago for a weapon system to counter rocket-propelled grenades. Reportedly, the Pentagon’s Office of Force Transformation identified an Israeli system, called “Trophy,” capable of defeating these deadly weapons. The Office of Force Transformation subjected the Trophy system to approximately 30 tests and concluded that it is “more than 98 percent” successful in engaging anti-tank weapons before they hit armored vehicles. As a result of this extremely high effectiveness rate, the office decided to buy several Trophy systems at the cost of about $300,000 to $400,000 each in order to test them on U.S. Army Stryker vehicles deployed in Iraq.
The NBC News report contends that the U.S. Army blocked the purchase of these potentially life-saving weapons systems due to a $70 million contract as part of the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS). Army Colonel Donald Kotchman was quoted in the report as acknowledging that the system preferred by the Army will not be ready for fielding until 2011 at the earliest.
I am extremely troubled by the allegations that the Army has blocked a plan to provide U.S. troops more protection against deadly rocket-propelled grenades when a system apparently exists that would save troops’ lives. Has the Trophy system, in fact, demonstrated its capability to be successfully utilized against rocket-propelled grenades? If so, why didn’t the Pentagon proceed without delay to procure the Trophy systems and deploy them to Iraq and Afghanistan? What is the Pentagon doing to field a weapons system to protect our troops now engaged in hostile combat against the threat of rocket-propelled grenades?
I would appreciate your prompt response.
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