The Cost-Effectiveness of Armored Tactical Wheeled Vehicles for Overseas U.S. Army Operations

41 Pages Posted: 25 Aug 2011

See all articles by Chris Rohlfs

Chris Rohlfs

Syracuse University

Ryan Sullivan

Naval Postgraduate School

Date Written: July 13, 2011

Abstract

This study uses For Official Use Only data on U.S. military operations to evaluate the large-scale Army policies to replace relatively light Type 1 Tactical Wheeled Vehicles (TWVs) with more heavily protected Type 2 variants and later to replace Type 2s with more heavily protected Type 3s. We find that Type 2 TWVs reduced fatalities at $1.1 million to $24.6 million per life saved, with our preferred cost estimates falling below the $7.5 million cost-effectiveness threshold, and did not reduce fatalities for administrative and support units. We find that replacing Type 2 with Type 3 TWVs did not appreciably reduce fatalities and was not cost-effective.

Keywords: Tactical Vehicles, Military, VSL, Fatalities, Army

JEL Classification: H56, J17, D24, J24, L11

Suggested Citation

Rohlfs, Chris and Sullivan, Ryan, The Cost-Effectiveness of Armored Tactical Wheeled Vehicles for Overseas U.S. Army Operations (July 13, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1916818 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1916818

Chris Rohlfs (Contact Author)

Syracuse University ( email )

Center for Policy Resarch
426 Eggers Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/

Ryan Sullivan

Naval Postgraduate School ( email )

1 University Circle
Monterey, CA 93943-5001
United States