MRAPs: Cougar tale in USA Today (Updated)

I ran across a very impressive multimedia story about Force Protection's Cougar vehicle. It recounts a IED attack, and includes some interview footage with the team leader.

Here's a teaser. Follow the link for all the bells and whistles.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Timothy Colomer, 32, was leading an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team on a mission last December when his Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, a Cougar, hit a massive IED. Everyone in the vehicle was knocked unconscious by the blast, but all survived. Here is his story:

I was deployed to Iraq in August of '06, my first tour. I had seen Cougars at Quantico before I deployed. I didn't drive them or train on them — the new ones were getting shipped straight out to Iraq. But I'd done my homework, and I knew its capabilities.

(USA Today)

The interview emphasizes how the troops would rather be in Cougars instead of Humvees. The Cougar is quite a bit more expensive than the Humvee, however. An up-armored Humvee costs about $170,000. By comparison, the Pentagon spent $67 million on 125 Cougars ($536,000 per).

clipped from www.usatoday.com

Update: Timothy Colomer wrote to point out that the cost of the Cougar is economical in terms of the human cost. He's correct about that. I mentioned the cost of the Humvee in comparison to the Cougar to provide the information about comparative cost (lacking in the USA Today graphic just above), and to note that the cost of the Cougar makes it unlikely that all U.S. troops will get to ride with that kind of safety. In the near term, at least. The Force Protection Cheetah and the Protected Vehicles Protector are designed more specifically to replace the Humvee. A hat tip to (Sgt?) Colomer for prompting me to make my intent clearer in this entry.