The Defense Department on Wednesday said that the U.S. military has started shipping new equipment to Afghanistan to help troops cope with the increasing threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) there. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell, told a Defense Department briefing that the first seven of a new model of all-terrain vehicle (MATV), were shipped from the an Air Force base in Charleston, South Carolina. The MATV is a heavily armored multi-purpose all-terrain vehicle. Morrell told reporters that these vehicles “are urgently needed because improvised explosive devices are claiming the lives” of increasing numbers of Americans and troops with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations in Afghanistan.
