The United States has designated Kuwait as the main
center for the armoring of American combat vehicles deployed in Iraq.
Officials said the armoring facility in Kuwait has been operating seven
days a week and 18 hours a day. They said the up-armoring of the Humvee
required between 30 to 40 hours.
The officials said the facility was capable of armoring hundreds of existing
Humvees and strengthening the chassis to ensure operation under the heavier
weight, Middle East Newsline reported.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, deputy for systems management and
acquisition to the assistant secretary of the army, said the army planned to
up-armor 35,000 vehicles in a project headed by AM General. He said the army
has received funding to complete 29,000 such vehicles.
"But over time now we've grown to a very, very high standard, and when
you go, for example, and visit the fabrication facilities that we have in
Kuwait today, what you'll see is, first of all, the Defense Logistics
Agency-approved steel being used," Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, commanding
general of operations of the U.S. Third Army, said.
Speakes said the facility, operated by the Army Service Command Forward,
designed templates for what he termed Level-2 armoring of the Humvees. The
design was completed by drivers of Humvees and support vehicles. Level-1
marked the production of the entire armored Humvee in the United States.
Level-3 was the armoring of the sides of military vehicles.
"This is an interim solution, but it's a darn good solution that's been
very, very effective as we take a look at what we've done to protect the
force,"
Speakes said on Dec. 15.
Officials said that by March 2005 the army would armor its heavy truck
fleet for deployment in Iraq. They said that four facilities in Kuwait were
contributing to the up-armor effort.