The Defense Department topped its year-end goal of delivering 1,500 mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles to troops in the Afghanistan and Iraq combat theaters, a Pentagon official announced Dec. 21.

A ship with 180 MRAP vehicles aboard landed pierside in Kuwait Dec. 20, the official said. More than 1,500 of the vehicles are now in theater. The numbers continue to increase daily, with air and sealifts of MRAPs into theater, the official said.

"We continue to deliver and field as many as can be manufactured on a daily basis," said Cheryl Irwin, a DoD spokeswoman.

DoD last month awarded $2.66 billion to purchase an additional 3,126 of the heavily armored, V-hulled vehicles by July 31.

The latest MRAP contract, announced Dec. 18, brought to 11,900 the number of vehicles under contract. The department's objective is to build at least 15,374, officials said.

"These armored trucks ... have been the military's top acquisition priority for months now, and with good reason," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

-Compiled from staff and Pentagon reports

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