Ukraine Russia War: Famous US IED-Stopping, Blast-Deflecting MRAP Vehicles Head to Ukraine

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By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Famous for saving lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s blast-deflecting, IED-stopping Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles are headed to Ukraine to counter Russian mines.

MaxxPro MRAP

The latest Biden Administration Ukraine “DrawDown Package” includes 40 MaxxPro MRAPs, blast-deflecting, soldier-protecting vehicles which blast onto the scene in large numbers during the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of the vehicles were mass produced and fast-tracked to theater to counter a fast-growing, lethal and devastating IED threat posed by insurgents in Iraq and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

First emerging in 2002 and 2003, the vehicles are engineered with a specific protected “capsule” and an underneath “V” shaped hull raised off the ground to deflect bomb debris and fragmentation to the sides. MRAPs are built such that the wheels may come off and the vehicle may fall apart, yet the core protective capsule remains intact to keep soldiers safe. 

After demonstrating an ability to save lives in Afghanistan in 2002, a 33-ton Buffalo MRAP vehicle made by Force Protection inspired the Pentagon, Iraq and Afghanistan commanders and Pentagon leaders to quickly recognize a need to quickly mass-produce the vehicles, given the scope and seriousness of the IED threat. As the Iraq war evolved, IED threats became more sophisticated and impervious to jamming. What might have begun with simple garage door openers to detonate IEDs as military vehicles drone by, evolved into elaborate, multi-frequency cell-phone detonated explosives able to destroy armored vehicles and injure or kill US soldiers. Thousands of US soldiers were killed and thousands more were injured. Many suffered catastrophic loss of limbs and became amputees.

However, once MRAPs arrived on a larger scale, which included Pentagon efforts to buy, produce and deliver thousands of Navistar-build MaxxPro Dash vehicles, death rates from IEDs declined dramatically. Thousands of soldiers riding in MRAPs survived IED attacks and were therefore better positioned to complete attack, ambush and rescue missions.