Posted by
Gabrielle Cusumano on Saturday, November 07, 2009 6:51:51 PM
And yet, the technology is available to protect the fuel tanks on the roughly 13,000 Humvees currently being used for patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two companies in the U.S. make plastic panels, weighing less than 30 pounds in total, that can be attached to the Humvee fuel tank in less than an hour. Those panels are filled with a fire suppressing powder that is released when the panels are shattered by a blast and instantly extinguishes any fire.
by Jonathan Hunt - FOXNews.com http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/05/troop-safety/
- November 05, 2009
Army Withholds Anti-Burn Humvee Panels as IED Deaths Continue
Excerpt:
IED attacks and the fires that often result from them are a nightmare scenario that many soldiers and marines have experienced. And it continues to happen as insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan attack American patrols, their IEDs frequently targeting and breaching the fuel tank, causing devastating fires. Insurgents are now reportedly adding accelerants to the top of IEDs to increase the chances of fire.
Soldiers who have served in those wars said again and again that the Humvee, despite all the extra armoring added by the Pentagon, remains the most vulnerable vehicle they use. One soldier said the fuel tank is the weakest link of that vehicle and that the enemy is very well aware of that.
"Our greatest fear is getting burned alive," another soldier said.
The Pentagon has added fire suppression technology to the Humvee's crew compartment and to the engine compartment, but it has not added fire suppression technology for the fuel tanks, the most combustible part of any vehicle.
And yet, the technology is available to protect the fuel tanks on the roughly 13,000 Humvees currently being used for patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two companies in the U.S. make plastic panels, weighing less than 30 pounds in total, that can be attached to the Humvee fuel tank in less than an hour. Those panels are filled with a fire suppressing powder that is released when the panels are shattered by a blast and instantly extinguishes any fire.
Fox News has seen video from an Army test of the fire panels in which an unprotected fuel tank bursts into flames when struck by a rocket propelled grenade. The same test on a fuel tank with the fire panels attached results in no fire.
The Army has also tested the technology on a Humvee itself, although that video is classified. The test happened on Feb. 1, 2006, and Fox News has learned that two days later an Army test engineer wrote in an e-mail to a Marine colleague who had inquired about the test, "Fuel tank and powder panel were penetrated several times and there was no resulting fire."
But nearly three years later, those panels, which cost roughly $2,000 per vehicle, have not been fitted to a single Humvee in either Iraq or Afghanistan. That's despite a formal request in the form of what the Pentagon calls an operational needs statement from then Lt Gen. Ray Odierno in Iraq in August 2007 calling for all vehicles to be fully equipped with fire suppression technology for all areas, including fuel tanks. More at:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/05/troop-safety/
Instead of engaging Marines in battle, the Taliban's weapon of choice has become the deadly IED