What's good for
General Motors Raytheon is good for the nation.
RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) are one of the most problematic weapon faced by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Essentially an RPG is a shoulder-launched, direct-fire, anti-tank weapon. An older WWII-era designed Soviet weapon, it is essentially a merging of the elements of the German panzerfaust and the American Bazooka. Their relative low cost, portability and wide availability makes them a favorite weapon among insurgent forces. Though RPGs are only marginally effective against MBTs (Main Battle Tanks), such as the A1 Abrams, due to modern MBTs heavy armor protection, it is capable of disabling an A1, which, once immobilized, is then vulnerable to other attacks. RPGs are effective against APCs (Armored Personnel Carriers) used by U.S. forces in Iraq, such as the Bradley, the Marines AAV , the newly deployed Stryker and the ubiquitous "Humvees". They have also been used to some effect against helicopters. (RPGs are what downed the Blackhawk helicopters in Mogadishu). RPGs are frequently used in convoy attacks in Iraq.
According to a recent news story, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/.... Due to the threat of RPGs, American commanders began requesting that an anti-tank defense system be deployed, and a year ago, the Pentagon found one. That system is called "Trophy".
An Israeli designed anti-RPG system, Trophy uses radar to identify and track incoming RPG rounds and then fires projectiles that detonate the warhead away from the targeted vehicle. The system protects the vehicle in a 360 degree radius. Pentagon tests concluded that the Trophy system was more than "98 percent" effective at killing RPGs.
Problem is, the Army doesn't want it.
Why? Because Raytheon's already been paid a 70 million dollar contract to develop one that should be ready...oh about 2011, "at the earliest". If it works at all. But apparently protecting corporate interests is more important than the protection of U.S. troops in the field.
"There are some in the Army who would be extremely concerned that if the Trophy system worked, then the Army would have no need to go forward with the Raytheon system and the program might be terminated," says Steven Schooner, who teaches procurement law at both George Washington University and the Army's Judge Advocate General's School."
I tell you nothing's more important than supporting our men and women...at Raytheon...nothing I tell you.