ANSWERING THE CALL

USTRANSCOM Explands the Effort for Timely Delivery of MRAP to Theater

by Karen Thuermer, MLF Correspondent

In late 2007, the Department of Defense approved a major expansion of the mine-resistant, ambushprotected vehicles (MRAP) program to over 20,000 vehicles. The Army plans to increase its fleet of MRAP vehicles from the previously planned 2,300 to 17,700 vehicles. The Marines’s allocation will remain at 3,400 and special operations forces will receive about 300 of which 170 have already been ordered. Thus began a production race between a number of DoD-approved contractors that manufacture MRAPs and other armored vehicles to meet this demand.

The expansion of the MRAP program represents a major commitment to these heavily armored vehicles that provide twice as much protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) than their uparmored HMMWV counterparts. IEDs, at the height of their use, were responsible for about 70 percent of U.S. casualties in Iraq. Consequently, the Army has considered phasing out the use of HMMWVs from use in combat patrols and high-risk missions and replacing them with MRAPs. On June 28, 2007, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council endorsed a requirement to replace every HMMWV with a MRAP.

While assessments today coming from commanders within both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps suggest that future MRAP procurement needs could vary from earlier allocation figures, the logistics component of transporting these heavy vehicles to military theaters in key places like Afghanistan and Iraq remains both critical and challenging. Plans call for having all MRAPs in theater by April 2009.

TRANSPORT LOGISTICS

Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., which is assigned as the Joint Program Executive Office (PEO), manages the overall MRPA program for the DoD. U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) supports the development and delivery of the MRAPs to the U.S. Central Command area of operations either by strategic airlift or strategic sealift.

“The priorities are set by the commanders, which—in this case—is the U.S. Central Command [CENTCOM],” explained Shawn Vosburg, a transportation analyst within USTRANSCOM’s Operations and Plans Directorate. “They are the ones who tell us how fast a shipment needs to be sent out, how soon, and what mode of transportation is needed to get the shipment to the theater of operations.” The Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force send their vehicles to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Center (SPAWAR) at Charleston, S.C. Prior to shipment, SPAWAR integrates and installs government furnished equipment such as electronics components into the vehicles with the exception of those for U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

“They integrate their own electronics,” Vosburg said. Important to USTRANSCOM’s involvement is knowing all MRAP requirements at the time of their production. Since USTRANSCOM operates as the distribution process owner, it has total visibility of the manufacturing process. This makes it possible for USTRANSCOM to track each MRAP shipment as it comes off the production line. The command’s MRAP end-to-end distribution team monitors the pipeline from production through to arrival in theater and delivery to final destination.

Currently five manufacturers produce 11 different variants of the vehicles. DoD is purchasing three types of MRAPS: Category I vehicles, weighing about 7 tons and capable of carrying six passengers; Category II vehicles, weighing about 19 tons and capable of carrying 10 passengers; and Category III vehicles, weighing about 22.5 tons and capable of carrying up to 12 passengers.

“We take control of them when they are offered for transportation at the airport or seaport,” Vosburg said.

Once they arrive in theater, the MRAPs are turned over to the service, which takes control from there. The MRAPs go through a brief de-processing where certain required items are added onto the vehicles.

“The many successes of the Joint MRAP Vehicle program are the result of an overwhelming team effort by the many players in this program,” said Brigadier General Michael Brogan, commander, Marine Corps Systems Command/ Joint PEO. “From production to integration, from transportation to fielding, a number of commands and organizations have played major roles in this program. The professionals from USTRANSCOM exhibited flexibility and resourcefulness to accomplish the movement mission.”

According to Vosburg, as of May 28, 2008, 6,750 MRAPs had been delivered in theater; 2,756 of which were transported by air, 3,995 by sea. For airlift shipments, USTRANSCOM utilizes military and commercial aircraft. MRAP vehicles can only be transported strategic distances on C-5, C-17 and AN-124 aircraft due to their size and weight. No other charter air carriers (U.S. or foreign) are capable of transporting these vehicles across strategic distances. To ensure their security while on the aircraft, military escorts accompany the air shipments.

“USTRANSCOM contracted for the use of the AN-124 Condors through U.S. flag carriers, members of the Civil Reserve Airlift Fleet,” stated Cynthia Bauer, USTRANSCOM media officer.”

Due to the high cost of airlift, sealift is the preferred mode. Vosburg estimated the cost of shipping one vehicle by sea is about $18,000 compared to $135,000 per vehicle by air.

“That’s because airlift charges by weight, whereas sealift charges by the area the vehicles take on the ship,” Vosburg explained. Sea and air transport both have their challenges. With 11 MRAP variations, the placement of tie downs on the vehicles vary, thereby making it challenging to efficiently stow and secure MRAPs without wasting space on the aircraft or roll-on/roll-off vessel. In addition, MRAPs have varying classifications, and, therefore, cannot be uniformly loaded onto the vessel. Their sizes and shapes also vary.

While airlift is fast, sealift is much less expensive. In addition, a ship has the capacity to carry more than a month’s worth of vehicles to theater. To keep the vehicles arriving in theater, however, entails having a steady supply in the pipeline.

By October 2007, 8,800 MRAPs were on order, and by November, when the flow of vehicles from production through integration became steady and predictable, the sealift for MRAP vehicles began. “From that time on, more and more MRAPs have been delivered by sea, as the theater’s ability to process vehicles increased,” Bauer said. “The goal is to deliver all vehicles by surface by this summer.” As of April 9, more than 5,200 MRAP vehicles were delivered to U.S. Central Command area operations.

Commercial steamship lines are preferred for transporting the MRAPs sea due to their regular and reliable schedules. “We equate this to a bus route,” Vosburg remarked. “Our next choice is to charter a commercial vessel, which we equate to a taxi ride. We fill the vessel up with whatever is at the dock at the time. It’s based on cost.”

Once the vehicles arrive in theater, the USCENTCOM theater distribution system engages to move the vehicles to receiving units.

DESIGN, PRODUCTION, SHIPMENT

Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation in Oshkosh, Wis., and one of the five DoD MRAP contractors, offers a good example of how manufacturers work closely with the DoD. The contract modification enables the continued production of the family of heavy tactical vehicles (FHTV) currently manufactured by Oshkosh.

The Army’s FHTV consists of three Oshkosh vehicles, the heavy expanded mobility tactical truck (HEMTT), palletized load system and heavy equipment transporter. Together these vehicles fulfill critical transport and resupply missions for soldiers. With this addition, HEMTT A4 production now totals 1,978 vehicles at $658 million, and brings the current FHTV contract total value to more than $2 billion.

Oshkosh has been making HEMTTs for the U.S. Army since 1982. Over the years, the Army has requested various upgrades to the HEMTT.

On June 4, 2008, Oshkosh Defense received a $120 million modification order for HEMTT A4 vehicles from the U.S. Army Tank automotive and Armaments Command. This latest contract modification adds 233 HEMTT A4 vehicles to the fleet, and provides the U.S. Army the security of a continuous production stream of vehicles critical to operations in theater and stateside. HEMTT A4 variants produced under this contract will include the recovery vehicle, fuel service vehicle and load handling system vehicle. The order entails a bolt-on armor-ready cab or B-kit cab.

“This is different from the old HEMTT where armor required a lot of drilling and removing of panels,” said Mike Ivy, director of Army Tactical Vehicle Programs, Oshkosh Corp. “Army requirements for greater reliability, survivability, maintainability compelled the Army to come to us and ask us to do basically a complete redesign of the HEMTT platform.”

Other improvements include an armored floor that is installed into the cab during its production at the factory. The armored floor is intended to improve soldier survivability in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We also designed the armor to go with that cab,” he added. “It has performed very well in various blast tests at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.

In addition, the HEMTT A4 provides a heavier CAT C15 engine to increase horsepower by about 55 horses over the current diesel engine. It also comes with anti-lock breaks, traction controls, improved suspension, an upgraded electrical system, and built-in air conditioning that is installed on the production line as opposed to an add-on.

“You simply cannot have an armored truck in a place like Iraq with no air conditioning,” Ivy remarked.

The HEMTT A4 is further enhanced by a two-level interactive technical manual capable of residing on the vehicle and communicating with the on-board diagnostics for improved ease of maintenance. A consideration for shipping, the armor upgrades and other modifications increased the weight of the cab significantly.

Upon receiving the order, Oshkosh immediately ramped up production. “We have now begun to transition from the HEMTT A2 over to the A4,” Ivy reported. “The truck will go to the field in significant quantities in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2009.”

When ready for delivery, the trucks will leave the manufacturing plant and be trucked to a military base from where they will be delivered to theater on ships. Given the weight of the HEMTT, sealift is the preferred mode, although it is transportable by C-130 or C-17.

“With the armored kit, the HEMTT becomes a very heavy truck,” Ivy added. While the HEMTT includes a host of upgrades, no transportability improvements were made.

“We had to work hard to keep the truck on a diet so that it still would be C-130 transportable,” Ivy said. “That was a real challenge given the improvements that we made. Transportability and survivability are competing demands.”

DEVELOPMENT, DELIVERY SUPPORT

General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) supports the development and delivery of the DoD’s armored vehicles like Stryker to global theaters and military operations. “PM SBCT provides the contract mechanism to support the Stryker fleet through a contract logistics support (CLS) contract,” stated John Denovchek, program manager, Stryker, GDLS. It provides full spectrum of maintenance, supply, training, fielding, retrofits, reset, battle-damage repair for the 2,400 fielded vehicles so far to seven brigades, TRADOC, SOCOM and other organizations.

To help with the effort, GDLS has a continuous improvement program that upgrades and improves or changes the configuration as required to meet various requirements. Power system improvements, suspension, armor and many other systems have been improved since 2001. Its ongoing full-up program includes tests of spiral improvements and 22 vehicles with 10 configurations at five test sites.

“GDLS’s process/system ensures that the latest and greatest parts are delivered to the field,” Denovchek explained. “When changes are made through the provisioning process that is communicated electronically throughout the supply network and GD purges the obsolete material [or reworks it if possible] to meet field requirements. During resets, for example, is our best time to upgrade vehicles to the latest configuration at one time.” Improvements were also made to the Stryker’s height management system. Most improvements, add-ons, and engineering change proposals are approved through the TCM, which is the voice of the end user.

“In my mind the biggest improvements for the soldiers were the additional armor [driver’s enhancement kits, hull protection kits and—coming out soon—mine protection kits] that provide the additional protection to the crews,” Denovchek said. Additionally, changes to suspension have ensured the crews can continue operating the Styrkers as before with the additional weight added for the improvements.

“Many other efforts for communications, electronics and power provided soldiers with the ability to improve battlefield awareness,” he added.

Though many of the delivery schedules have been short, the timetable for getting the Stryker vehicles into theater is planned well in advance and fits into the RFORGEN Model which has active duty units deployed for 12 months in theater, 12 month upon return reconstitution/reset, and 12 months training before starting over again.

“Upon notification, units typically go through a NTC or JRTC training event, then to a port where OIF kits are installed and deployed to theater through Kuwait,” Denovchek explained. “GDLS supports the unit every step of the way through maintenance and supply support during training, port retrofits and services, Kuwait support to make the transition to war and with the unit the entire time while in Iraq to ensure supportability is met for the vehicle systems.”

Besides providing FSR’s to the Stryker vehicles, parts also play an important role in keeping them operational. This function is coordinated by the GDLS supply team. “Auburn, Wash., is our main warehouse with over 10,000 line items and 700,000 square feet of warehouse space,” Denovchek described. “Material moves from Auburn to our forward sites [European distribution center, EDC, Germany] and forward repair activity [FRA] Balad, Iraq.”

From there it gets pushed down to the brigade support battalions, where GDLS has embedded FSR’s, and is pushed to the combat repair teams. In garrison parts move from Auburn direct to the BSBs in Alaska, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Lewis.

“We also support field training exercises [like NTC, JRTC, Korea and Germany for unit task forces] and port support activities from Auburn,” he said. All material moves on a government shipper and is RFID tagged and documented on each stage of its movement.

SPARE PARTS ISSUES

Keeping MRAP in top working order while in theater is a big issue. To offer field support, BAE Systems has deployed 150 representative embedded in the unit. “The goal is to provide field support by representatives who have been crosstrained on different MRAP vehicles,” stated Chris Chambers, vice president medium and heavy vehicles, BAE Systems. “It’s part of a concept the government has introduced called the MRAP University.”

These embedded representatives play a critical function for two reasons: They are trained to respond to any questions warfighters might have regarding the MRAP and they obtain feedback on how the vehicles are operating in theater.

“From a logistics support perspective, they also provide feedback on whether or not spare parts and the right parts are arriving on time,” he added.

Currently, the emphasis is to stock MRAP parts in four core areas. The need is critical given the fast ramping up of MRAP procurement.

“Parts is one area that is still catching up,” Chambers said. “We have a number of vehicles that are battle-damaged. And you can imagine how, when summer kicks in, air conditioners start to work harder. The overall vehicle usage is very high compared to other vehicles. That’s why the emphasis is not just about producing MRAP on time, but how we can best support them in the field.”

To date, BAE Systems’ current efforts for MRAP availability is about 93 percent.

Not surprising, getting replacement parts to the field quickly is a big issue. Logistically, it involves a contract to deliver parts to the military systems, which, in turn, distributes those parts into theater and eventually to the vehicles themselves. “We are not getting any visibility once we deliver a part to a military warehouse staff point,” Ivy remarked.

As with any new system, critical mass is necessary for deliveries to become constant and predictable. Ivy believes the MRAP program is getting to that point.

“But we are seeing some instances were parts are taking longer than we would like,” he added. “Until we get feedback from our field service rep, or we get calls from the unit asking where the part is, we do not have control when they will arrive.”

Ivy stressed that this is not necessarily a breakdown in the system, but the result of the rapid deployment of MRAPs into service.

“It takes time for things to catch up,” he said. “But we would like to have every vehicle in working order because they save life and limb.”

A huge success story surrounding MRAP maintenance is what Ivy referred to as the MRAP University approach whereby all MRAP contractors have trained staff who know how to work on each others’ MRAP vehicles.

“To get five contractors to agree on training for work on every vehicle underlines how successfully the industry and government have come together in a quality way to make the MRAP program happen,” he said. ♦