San Diego School District's New 18-Ton Armored Vehicle Creates Stir

[mongers]

Wacky idea I know, but might the Kurds not be in need of this sort of vehicle at the moment? 

[KRonn]

Wacky idea I know, but might the Kurds not be in need of this sort of vehicle at the moment? 

Heh, quite true! And the US is still waffling on giving weapons to the Kurds, using the broken process of giving to the Iraq government and having the govt. give weapons to the Kurds.

[KRonn]

I was talking to cop friend about this and he said that these vehicles are usually for use by a group of police stations or a region, but that they have to be acquired and placed at one police station. So it looks like some town has an armored car but it's really meant for use by all the surrounding towns. I think that at least makes more sense than thinking that a town, especially some small, quiet town, needs this stuff just for them.

[garbon]

They need this as a mobile supply locker?

[Darth Wagtaros]

They need this as a mobile supply locker?

When the C.H.U.D.s rise from the sewers to go after the LAV's supply of teddy bears you'll see that this was a wise move indeed.

[Razgovory]

So, when does the first rural police department in the US get its own jet fighter? I am sure there must be some surplus jet fighters as well.

Ooh!  Or Military vehicles for sporting events!



Like this US helicopter used in Germany in 2006.

[The Brain]

Looks like Ia Drang valley to me.

[Berkut]

These are very, very specific use vehicles. They are designed to be a truck that can protect the crew from an IED.

They make massive compromises in all areas of things you want a truck to do in order to achieve that very narrow design goal. They are incredibly heavy, and destroy a lot of the roads they drive on. They use incredible amounts of gas. They are actually rather dangerous compared to any other vehicle intended for the same role...unless there is a chance someone might set off a few hundred ppounds of explosives under it.

They tend to roll over easily, because they have a ridiculously high center of gravity.

They are an incredibly shitty tool to do anything at all other than what they are very, very narrowly and specifically designed to do. But at some $700,000 a piece, I suspect the military wants to do *something* with the thousands of them bought now that we don't need them anymore.

A lot of them were really kind of badly designed, and I think the military mostly thinks there is a better solution, and I suspect they are keeping those and getting rid of the rest. This is was a "crash" program in many ways, and I think there was a lot of "A shitty design that saves troops lives is better than nothing - get it out there".

So yeah, we cannot give them to other militaries or allies because they don't want them - in 99.5% of cases they are vastly better off with a deuce and a half.

[Malthus]

I was talking to cop friend about this and he said that these vehicles are usually for use by a group of police stations or a region, but that they have to be acquired and placed at one police station. So it looks like some town has an armored car but it's really meant for use by all the surrounding towns. I think that at least makes more sense than thinking that a town, especially some small, quiet town, needs this stuff just for them.

The issue is that no towns, or groups of towns, actually need an armoured car for anything. Have they ever actually been used for anything, other than scaring the local population into thinking the cops have gone apeshit crazy? 

[derspiess]

They look cool at displays.

[Berkut]

Ignoring for the moment why the San Diego School District Police Department needs an armored vehicle....why does the San Diego School District need a police department???

[sbr]

Order must be maintained at all costs!

[Razgovory]

I was talking to cop friend about this and he said that these vehicles are usually for use by a group of police stations or a region, but that they have to be acquired and placed at one police station. So it looks like some town has an armored car but it's really meant for use by all the surrounding towns. I think that at least makes more sense than thinking that a town, especially some small, quiet town, needs this stuff just for them.

The issue is that no towns, or groups of towns, actually need an armoured car for anything. Have they ever actually been used for anything, other than scaring the local population into thinking the cops have gone apeshit crazy? 

Except for when they do, like in riot control situation or when gunmen have taken hostages and are shooting at on the street.  Banks use armored cars, don't they?  Banks don't strike me as buying frivolous things.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

These are very, very specific use vehicles. They are designed to be a truck that can protect the crew from an IED.

They make massive compromises in all areas of things you want a truck to do in order to achieve that very narrow design goal. They are incredibly heavy, and destroy a lot of the roads they drive on. They use incredible amounts of gas. They are actually rather dangerous compared to any other vehicle intended for the same role...unless there is a chance someone might set off a few hundred ppounds of explosives under it.

They tend to roll over easily, because they have a ridiculously high center of gravity.

They are an incredibly shitty tool to do anything at all other than what they are very, very narrowly and specifically designed to do. But at some $700,000 a piece, I suspect the military wants to do *something* with the thousands of them bought now that we don't need them anymore.

A lot of them were really kind of badly designed, and I think the military mostly thinks there is a better solution, and I suspect they are keeping those and getting rid of the rest. This is was a "crash" program in many ways, and I think there was a lot of "A shitty design that saves troops lives is better than nothing - get it out there".

So yeah, we cannot give them to other militaries or allies because they don't want them - in 99.5% of cases they are vastly better off with a deuce and a half.

What ever happened to the idea of scrapping shit you don't need anymore?  Since so many are still in serviceable condition, I'm sure the DOD could get a decent ($0.10 - $0.15 on the dollar) deal selling these to someone to strip down and sell for parts.  Hell, it probably has parts in common with the deuce, LAV, and HEMTT; these things could be broken down to provide spares for those vehicles.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Except for when they do, like in riot control situation or when gunmen have taken hostages and are shooting at on the street.  Banks use armored cars, don't they?  Banks don't strike me as buying frivolous things.

Armored car companies (not banks) use armored cars to transport high value, easily stolen, easily liquidated items that are common targets for thieves.

Police forces do not need armored vehicles for riot control.  If a riot gets that bad, they call the National Guard.  While an armored vehicle might be useful on the off chance some gunman is going to start randomly shooting people on the street, a heavily-armored gun truck designed to resist an anti-tank mine or assault by an insurgent squad is wholly unnecessary.  An armored Suburban or cargo van would be both sufficient and more cost effective.