Navistar MRAPS to receive upgrade

The U.S. Navy has given Navistar division International Military and Government LLC (IMG), $261,373,172 a contract modification for engineering change proposals to upgrade Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) low rate initial production vehicles.

The government will procure several engineering changes which will provide additional armor protection to increase the survivability of the MRAP Category I (CAT I) vehicles. The order also includes ambulance kits. Work is expected to be completed Nov. 2008.

More Navistar stories here.

Source: DoD Photo: Navistar

IMG contracts DRS

DRS Technologies, Inc. (DRS) has announced today it has received two contract awards valued at $34 million to manufacture 2,500 armored roof assemblies for the International Military and Government (IMG) MaxxPro 4 x 4 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle (International Military and Government LLC (IMG) is a unit of Navistar ).

The first award, granted in early February for 1,000 assemblies, was valued at $14 million. The second contract, worth $20 million, recently was awarded for an additional 1,500 roof assemblies.

Production is being performed by the company's DRS Sustainment Systems unit's manufacturing facility in West Plains, Missouri. Production of the first 1,000 units should be complete by mid-April, while the remaining 1,500 roof assemblies will be delivered by July 31. Deliveries of both orders will be made to IMG's vehicle production facility in West Point, Mississippi.

Source: DRS
Photo: Navistar

Marines to get more MRAPs from Interational

Under a previously awarded contract, International Military and Government LLC (a division of International/Navistar) of Warrenville, IL is to deliver 743 vehicles to the Marines. These are Category 1 MRAPs.

The total value of the contract is $410,730,320 and delivery is due by November 2008.

Update: On March 18th DoD published a correction to their contract notification. The actual amout is $405,963,830 vs $410,730,320.

Source: DoD
Photo: Navistar

2008 updates

As we enter this New Year there have been some updates to the site.

In the Menu section on the right you will notice the section "Research and References". This has been updated including the conference listings. If you know of any conference that may be of interest to your fellow reader, please let us know. As arrangements can often require a lot of coordination we ask for at least one month advance notice.

Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

BAE starts 2008 on a roll ...

It may be a quiet period for some but there's no moss growing on BAE. They have recently announced two acquisitions.

Petards Group has sold BAE its U.K. software business, including the Universal Video Management System (UVMS). Petards will continue to provide UVMS in North America through a licensing agreement. Wile this is a relatively small purchase for BAE it may point to a consolidation trend in the industry in light of last year's Bosch purchase of Extreme.

The bigger news on the financial scale ($450 million) is BAE's purchase of Dayton Ohio's MTC Technologies. This move certainly increases BAE's U.S. footprint. Founded in 1984 by Rajesh and Indu Soin, MTC has been involved with: avionics and control system mechanisms for the C-130 and attack helicopters; future soldier equipment integration; intelligence planning; and professional services.

For perspective, here are some BAE facts: 3rd largest global defence company; 6th largest US defence company; 96,000 employees; and annual sales exceed £15 billion.

Sources: Various
Image: BAE

MRAP vehicle orders top 11,900

"The Department of Defense today announced a contract award for an additional 3,126 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to be manufactured and completed by end of July 2008. Four manufacturers received the delivery orders totaling just under $2.66 billion.

" ... Stewart and Stevenson Tactical Vehicle, a Division of Armor Holdings and more recently BAE Land Systems, received a firm fixed priced delivery order for the purchase of 668 Category II vehicles with Category I seat configuration. The company is now operating under the name, BAE-TVS.

BAE Systems Land and Armaments, increased their participation in the program by 600 bringing their total vehicle count to more than 1,730. The vehicles will be Category II vehicles.

Force Protection Industries, Inc. will add another 358 (178 Category I and 180 Category II) vehicles to their vehicle commitment.

The largest single delivery order to date has been issued to International Military and Government LLC for 1,500 Category I vehicles.

All four delivery orders include vehicles, integrated logistics support (ILS), sustainment items and engineering change proposals designed to increase vehicle capability."

Source DoD Press Release

Photo: Force Protection