Fuel efficiency unlikely in military vehicles.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Washington PULSE

With U.S. forces in Iraq no longer getting free fuel from Kuwait, the Defense Department may have to get serious about cutting back on consumption. It may take many years, however, for the military services to acquire more fuel-efficient hybrid-electric vehicles.

U.S. troops in Iraq consume one-and-a-half million gallons of fuel a day, but all that fuel came free from Kuwait until earlier this year, when the deal ended, said Army Lt. Gen. Claude V. Christianson, director of logistics on the Joint Staff.

The Defense Logistics Agency is negotiating a fuel contract with suppliers in Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey...