Recent operations in southern Afghanistan have underscored some of the limitations of the US Marine Corps' Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. The MRAP, one of the top procurement priorities for the US Department of Defense, has been credited with saving many lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The vehicles, which are built by several different manufacturers, are designed to withstand mine blasts and roadside bombs and the Pentagon has spent billions over the past year to rush MRAPs to the field. Survivability, however, comes with some trade-offs. Marines in southern Helmand province told Jane's their MRAPs had limited off-road mobility and were often too wide and too heavy for rural Afghan roads.
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