Publication

This paper examines mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles as a case study of the current debate over the US government's approach to developing and fielding irregular warfare capabilities. The authors argue that MRAPs are a valid irregular warfare requirement and that the Pentagon should have been better prepared to field them, albeit not on the scale demanded by events in Iraq. They further contend that the proximate cause of the failure to quickly field MRAPs is not the Pentagon’s acquisition system but rather the requirements process, reinforced by more fundamental organizational factors.