U.S. and coalition troops have their hands full in Iraq. In light of the large number of fast-moving and rapidly changing attacks on soldiers deployed there, efforts are underway to increase the availability of effective body armor for U.S. forces. At the same time, however, the supply of armored Humvees referred to as up-armored vehicles continues to be a significant problem.

During recent testimony on Capitol Hill, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld acknowledged that the Pentagon was scrambling to ensure that every armored Humvee in its existing inventory was in the theater, while requesting a substantial sum to field at least 180 additional vehicles. Each costs roughly $500,000 and the armor adds 3,000 pounds to the weight of the vehicle. The work is performed by a company in Ohio.

How quickly we can deliver these vehicles to our troops in Iraq is not the only question. Just as important is the issue of whether or not the Pentagon needs to broaden its supply line in this instance to include other armored vehicles that are readily available.

Recently, I was watching NHK, a major Japanese news service available on the CBC International satellite TV news channel, for possible coverage of the launch of a new Japanese satellite over the weekend. It did not air. What did air was a news story about a ceremony held dockside at the time of the arrival in Kuwait of a Japanese ship carrying vehicles and supplies for Japanese Self Defense Forces deployed in Iraq.

I was quite surprised to see a heavily armored Japanese jeep during the newscast. I believe that this vehicle had not been seen on TV in North America prior to its appearance on the dock during this newscast. I wanted to know more about it and so after a few unsuccessful web searches, I phoned the

Japanese embassy and thanks to the rapid response by the military attach? office there, I learned that the supplier of these vehicles for the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces is Komatsu. This armored vehicle made its debut last year.

According to the attach? office, this vehicle weighs roughly 4.5 tons, and can carry four soldiers at a maximum speed of 62 mph for over 200-plus miles without refueling.

Is the Pentagon aware of this vehicle? Does it perform as well as an up-armored Humvee under similar hostile-fire conditions, and could it be added to the U.S. Army’s fleet of armored vehicles more quickly than the up-armored Humvees now on order? Of course, performance and speed of deployment are the top priorities here. Mercedes has a similar vehicle used by the Canadians, but the Komatsu vehicle appears to have a much lower profile than the Mercedes vehicle, among other things.

While Komatsu may not be the only viable alternative provider for these vehicles on the list, something needs to be done quickly about the limited supply of small armored vehicles in Iraq. I do not believe that American taxpayers who have embraced Japanese SUV’s with great enthusiasm care where the armored vehicles in question come from as long as they can get the job done, and carry family members and friends on duty in Iraq in and out of harm’s way safely.

Peter J. Brown is a freelance writer from Mount Desert.