defensenews2022

My comment, "The battle for U.S. tax dollars continues without practicality. Biden has ordered that military vehicles go electric. If we look at history and the environment today we can understand if this is practical for our warfighters.

We may have to have additional storage space to handle the very long extension cords that will be needed to charge the vehicles.

The attached white paper for the DOD gives some detail. They talk about using the hybrid approach to quell concerns over distance restrictions. Because of the weight of some of the tactical vehicles such as the Abrams Tank at 55 tons, tank retriever at 62.5 tons, 155-175 self-propelled howitzers range from 27-28 tons without payload to a lighter vehicle called the Hummer at 10,200 lbs.

There are 10s of thousands of vehicles that will have to be refitted. Will they remove some of the armor that protects our warfighters during transport? It took years to retrofit the Armor Personnel Carriers (APC) and Humvees to protect our warfighters from improvised explosives. Prior to that, the military experienced many more deaths and lost limbs because of the lack of protective armor.

The hybrid approach still requires logistics for fuel and repairs so it doesn't accomplish much other than placing our warfighters at additional risk and costing our taxpayers huge amounts of money that could be better served in improved weapons and technology for our warfighters. The cost calculations do not include battery replacements or the effect of battery drainage in very hot or very cold climates.

As a former warfighter, I would vote for spending taxpayer money on mitigating the warfighter's risks, and improving the probability of success in any engagement."

Attachment: DOD White Letter