My new dream vehicle. OK, OK. So, it's not exactly practical, but that's never stopped me before. I still desperately want a Land Rover Defender 110, but this thing, you must admit, would be really fun on I-5 in L.A.! This is the new REVA, which is being tested in Baghdad now, for possible use by troops in the future. Read about it below!
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(Extracted from an article on National Defense Magazine online. Full story here. It talks about armoring vehicles for better protection against IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)...and it says: One (other) vehicle under consideration is the REVA, a 4x4 personnel carrier that seats 10 passengers and is equipped with two hatches for light machine guns.

Like the MTTCS, the only way to enter the REVA is from the back or the gunner’s hatch. Ten of these vehicles are currently being used by civilian contractors in Iraq, with more coming this month.

The Army purchased five REVA prototypes for evaluation, he said. Each one costs $195,000.

J.J. Van Eck, of South Africa, designed the REVA specifically for the Iraq war, and he modeled it after the South African anti-mine vehicles currently in operation with U.S. forces.

The hull of the REVA consists of a “capsule” without chassis, and the wheel basis is built directly onto the hull with a “V”-shape at the bottom of the hull to deflect a mine blast, said the manufacturer, Integrated Convoy Protection.

The evaluation of these vehicles comes at a time when attacks by suicide bombers and buried explosives are at an all-time high in Iraq. U.S. convoys are targeted on average about 30 times per week, or double the level of attacks from a year ago, said Brig. Gen. Yves J. Fontaine, head of the Army 1st Corps Support Command, Multinational Corps-Iraq. “Our main threat is the IED for the logistics convoys coming from Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey and in going to the Baghdad area,” he told reporters.

We have seen several of these vehicles here at Camp Victory, and they are quite impressive. Hey, REVA, got any spares?

All's well here. Thanks for tuning in.