The Pentagon's on a spending spree for vehicles that may help replace the venerable Humvee (which has proved vulnerable to increasingly powerful improvised explosive devices).



The Army and Marine Corps had originally proposed buying 4,100 of the so-called Mine Resistant Ambush Protection Vehicles, or MRAP. Now, according to news reports, this number is 6,600 and growing. The new vehicles will sport improvements like a V-shaped hull, better armor, and improved chassis.

In the meantime, the two services are also planning a longer-term project to completely replace the Humvee with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Those new vehicles are supposed to be ready by 2012, or possibly sooner.

Here's the million dollar (or multi-billion dollar) question: Who here in the DANGER ROOM thinks the military, after spending billions on a "stopgap" vehicle like the MRAP, is going to have the cash to buy a dream fleet of replacement vehicles?

\– Sharon Weinberger