Why is the Pentagon Refusing to Use a Working Anti-RPG System?

Are troops in Iraq being put into unnecessary danger so a US corporation can make a buck? It seems that way. Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) are one of the most destructive weapons turned on US forces in Iraq. Israel has developed an effective anti-RPG defense, but US forces aren't using it.

MSNBC:

Since our first reports, the Army brass has repeatedly told Congress that the Israeli–made anti-RPG system Trophy is too flawed to battle test in Iraq.

But documents obtained by NBC News reveal that the Army's own engineers at one point gave the system high marks.

In the summer of 2005, Army engineers — working with a team from the Navy — analyzed six systems to defend against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Their conclusion? Trophy was the "best candidate," the "most technically advanced" and the "most technically mature system." [.PDF link]

It turns out that the reason the Pentagon is holding off on Trophy is that Raytheon is developing an anti-RPG system.

Pentagon sources and Army documents obtained by NBC News strongly suggest top Army officials consider Trophy a threat to a $160 billion program called the Future Combat System (FCS). Under FCS, the Army is paying Raytheon $70 million to build an anti-RPG system from scratch; a system that won’t be ready until 2011.

The Army denies that FCS and the Raytheon contract had anything to do with it. In a Sept. 6, 2006, "Information Paper" [.PDF link] to Congress disputing NBC News' reports, an Army official wrote:

• Assertion 6. Pentagon sources tell NBC News that the Army brass considers the Israeli system a threat to an Army program to develop an RPG defense system from scratch.
  A6 False. The Army does not consider the TROPHY system as a threat…

But an internal Army document obtained by NBC News reveals that Army officials actually cited FCS as a reason to block battle testing Trophy. The document is an April 18, 2006, briefing to the Pentagon’s Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) [.PDF link] asking JRAC to "validate Army decision" to strip Trophy off three Stryker fighting vehicles bound for battle testing in Iraq this year.

I can't post everything here and there's no reason to, MSNBC's story is pretty comprehensive -- go check it out.

Just one more example of the government putting money and corporations over people's lives.

Tags: news | politics | Military | corporations | corruption | Iraq | war | disaster | bullshit | Raytheon