Hurricane Katrina has reduced production of armored vehicles
used by troops in Iraq. The plant assembling the ASV (armored security vehicle)
is in southern Louisiana, and was flooded by Katrina. About 85 percent of the
1,200 workers are still missing, having been displaced when their homes were
destroyed by the hurricane. The Textron plant itself was damaged, but not
destroyed. The workers who have returned are cleaning things up and getting
ready to resume production by the end of October. The plant has orders for some
900 ASVs. 



The ASVs, costing about $690,000 each, were originally developed in the 1990s
for use by MPs in combat zones. But only a few were bought. It was found that
for 1990s style peacekeeping, existing armored vehicles were adequate. In the
narrow streets of Balkan towns, the vehicle was too wide to be very
maneuverable. Then came Iraq, where the ASV turned out to be very useful,
particularly for convoy protection. There are currently nearly 200 ASVs in
Iraq, and the army wants lots more because military police like these vehicles
a lot. The MPs originally wanted 2,000 ASVs, but before Iraq, were told they
would be lucky to get a hundred. Now the MPs may end up with over a
thousand. 



The ASV is a 13 ton armored car that is built to handle the kind of crap
terrorists are dealing out in Iraq. The ASVs are, unlike armored hummers, built
from the ground up as an armored trucks. ASVs are 20 feet long and 8.5 feet
wide, making them a bit larger than hummers. Usually, each ASV carries a .50
caliber machine-gun and a 40mm automatic grenade launcher. The ASV is heavy
enough to survive most roadside bombs and keep going. The ASV is bullet, and
RPG proof. The turret is the same one used on the U.S. Marine Corps LAV.