Thursday, March 08, 2007
Pentagon awards $210 mn for mine-resistant vehicles
Security
(AP) A new combat truck with a V-shaped bottom designed to withstand blasts from roadside bombs is performing with such success in Iraq that the U.S. military is pressing a Wisconsin company and others to churn out hundreds more in the coming months. About 200 prototypes of the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles have been deployed in Iraq since 2004, said Capt. Jeff Landis, spokesman for the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va. No Marine has died while in one of the trucks, Landis said.
"This is the best vehicle available for safety and survivability," he said. "The MRAP vehicle supplies troops with the greatest protection we've had." Force Protections Industries in Ladson, S.C., built the 200 prototypes. Within the past month, the Pentagon awarded about $210 million in contracts to Force Protections, Oshkosh Truck Corp., and three other companies in the U.S. and Canada to manufacture a total of nearly 400 more vehicles. Landis said the military hopes to receive them by the end of the year.
"This is the best vehicle available for safety and survivability," he said. "The MRAP vehicle supplies troops with the greatest protection we've had." Force Protections Industries in Ladson, S.C., built the 200 prototypes. Within the past month, the Pentagon awarded about $210 million in contracts to Force Protections, Oshkosh Truck Corp., and three other companies in the U.S. and Canada to manufacture a total of nearly 400 more vehicles. Landis said the military hopes to receive them by the end of the year.
Commanders in Iraq originally said the military would need 4,100 mine-resistant vehicles, but they raised their request to 6,738 in mid-February after seeing how well the trucks protected occupants, Landis said. Those requests are subject to approval by Congress. In addition to Force Protections and Oshkosh, the other contractors are Protected Vehicles Inc. of North Charleston, S.C.; BAE Systems in Washington; and General Dynamics Land Systems in Ontario, Canada.
Labels: Force Protections Industries, Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles, Oshkosh Truck Corp
