Road of Death's Bad-Ass Bus
"The only safe way to move troops and diplomats" along the deadliest stretch of road in Iraq "is in convoys of custom-made $275,000 armored buses," Defense News says.
The buses, called "Rhinos," look like something out of The Road Warrior... They roll in the dead of night, escorted by armored Humvees, with the road sealed to all other traffic and AH-64 Apache gunships loitering overhead.
The Rhino is all flat slabs of gray or off-white steel (there are two models in service) with passenger windows angled in streamlined fashion, like an old-time Greyhound bus, as the only concession to aesthetics.
The beauty of these buses is not in their graceful lines — they are as graceful as a refrigerator. Rather, their attractiveness lies in the armor, which covers the sides, tops and bottoms of the five buses in service in Baghdad. Twenty-six passengers ride in relative comfort on functional — if not stylish — vinyl seats.
The buses, each weighing about 13 tons and featuring bullet-resistant glass and 12 gun ports along with all that armor, are manufactured by Weston, Fla.-based Labock Technologies at the company’s plant in Ashdod, Israel.
Until three months ago, the only safe ways to move diplomats, contractors and others working for the government between the airport and the Green Zone [along "Route Irish" aka "the Road of Death" -- ed.] was by Rhino or helicopter. Now, the helicopters are being used elsewhere, and the only remaining safe ride is on the Rhino...
About three months ago, a Rhino took a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade. "Nobody was hurt except for some minor bumps and bruises," said Army Maj. Sharon Smith, of the Joint Area Support Group, who books the Rhino convoys.
Rhino maker Labock also claims that "it was the vehicle of choice employed by the military to provide safe ground transportation for the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, and General Dick Myers and his staff while they were visiting Baghdad in may 2004. It is also the vehicle of choice to drive Saddam Hussein and other V.I.P. prisoners between their confinements and the Iraqi Tribunal."
THERE'S MORE: For first-hand accounts of folks who've ridden the bus on the Route of Death, check out the comments section.
Does anyone have the specs on the Rhino, more to the point, the armor? The vehicle has supposedly taken RPG (RPG-7?) hits and lived to tell about it. That's hard to believe considering nothing short of extesive use of ceramics, slat armor, ERA or ADS would stop an RPG-7 attack. The picture above depictes the Rino as a fairly thin-skined looking vehicle. It's not that RPG-7 protection couldn't be given to the thing, but why? What is the Rhino's mission BTW?
"Until three months ago, the only safe ways [Rhino] to move diplomats, contractors and others working for the government between the airport and the Green Zone..."
"The buses, each weighing about 13 tons and featuring bullet-resistant glass and 12 gun ports..."
Diplomats and contractors need gun ports? I don't get it.
I assume the Rino is not designed to replace a more heavily armored APC, but apperently to suppliment them by taking over some of the less strenious tasks. I highly doubt the US will be ferring any of it troops into front line combat in Rhinos. LIC (low intensity conflict) in urban terrain is a whole new ball game for the US and it's no surprise that they are turning to the Israelis for adivce/hardware (come on they've literaly had decades worth of experince in LIC). BTW, the Israelis have something similar to it, the Wolf and their "Rhino": http://www.israeli-weapons.com/israeli_weapons_vehicles_light-combat.html
It's my belief that we will begin to see family(s) of specialized vehicles for LIC in urban terrain. Vehicles that are so mission-specific that they will look rather odd when placed aside a AFV such as a Bradley or similar vehicle for two reasons:
1. one the vehicles are built to satisfy a different criteria (IE: different mission, or to better fulfill similar mission)
2. they're like nothing else in the US arsenal. the US has little experence in LIC in recent years and has had to get by with exisiting vehicles in it's inventory by thrusting them into situations that the vehicles may not have been designed for, or excell at.
Comparing two different vehicles,designed for different missions, and saying vehicle XXX1 is better or worse than vehicle XXX2 without comparing missions is just silly.
Posted by: Daren at March 16, 2006 3:36 AM