The Army's top general said Friday that production of armored Humvees for soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan may be stepped up beyond the current accelerated rate. Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, toured the O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt plant in this southwest Ohio city, where the Humvees are armored. The plant was producing 450 vehicles a month in December, when the Army asked the company to accelerate production. The company plans to produce 509 vehicles in February and 550 in March. "We've had conversations about what the possibilities are beyond that, if necessary," Schoomaker said. The Army has ordered 8,105 of the armored Humvees. Schoomaker declined to say how many of them will ultimately be needed. Schoomaker said there are currently more than 26,000 armored Humvees and other U.S. military vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan with some sort of armor, compared with fewer than 500 such vehicles 16 months ago. Some troops have complained about the lack of armored vehicles for soldiers, who count on the armor to help protect them from roadside bombs and other devices.
