I get DHS briefings every day and from what the report said yesterday:
"Door latches a problem on M-ATVs, soldiers say. Since getting the new vehicles in January, at least one external door latch has failed on all of 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment’s M-ATVs. “When we get out of the vehicle to shoot a rocket or something, we have to make sure the door stays open,” a Staff Sergeant said. If it closes, he said, the only way to get the door open is to have someone crawl through the vehicle and use the inside handle. On his truck, it is the driver’s side door, but other trucks have different flaws. Other members of the platoon were quick to confirm busted latches were a critical problem with the new trucks. The Pentagon has shipped more than 1,000 of the new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles to Afghanistan. Oshkosh Corporation won a $1 billion contract last summer to produce up to 10,000 of the new M-ATVs for off-road use in Afghanistan. MRAP Joint Program Office officials said they were aware of a problem with door latches on M-ATVs, but “not to the extent described” by 2-12 soldiers, a Marine Corps Systems Command spokeswoman said March 5. “Sticking doors have been identified as an intermittent discrepancy for a few months,” she said. The JPO’s Quality Team’s Corrective Action Board has been analyzing door latches for about a month, she said. Program officials in Afghanistan have received door adjustment instructions to correct the problem. Overall, the 2-12 soldiers are happy with the M-ATV. They like its smaller turning radius, as compared with the MRAPs, allowing them to make a U-turn to help other vehicles in an ambush, they said. The trucks do not get stuck and have protected the occupants from small-arms fire, soldiers said."
At least they like them other than that...........
sw
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I'll wait 40 years when GL wants to get rid of them!
