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has approved the expansion of the MRAP program to over 20,000
vehicles. The US Army plans to increase its fleet of MRAP vehicles
from the previously planned 2,300 to 17,700 vehicles. The Marines's
allocation will remain at 3,400 and special operations forces
will receive about 300 (170 have already been
ordered). This plans will virtually phase out the HMMWV
from use in combat patrols and high risk missions. Responding
to the urgent requirement, the Army plans to have all 17,700
MRAPs in theater by April 2009. To accomodate this plan all
suppliers are expanding their production facilities to speed
up deliveries, reaching several hundred vehicles per month by
the automn of 2007.
The Defense Department’s Joint Requirements Oversight
Council (JROC) endorsed procuring as many MRAPs as industry
can provide in fiscal 2008. The top-level panel, which validates
military requirements, recommended evaluating the situation
in Iraq periodically and adjusting the acquisition plan based
on the need. "the department is embarking on an aggressive
acquisition strategy to put as many of these armored vehicles
into the field as fast as possible,” Bryan Whitman, deputy
assistant secretary of defense for public affairs said. Defense
Department and military services are reaching out to industry
to “incentivize” companies to boost production while
reducing the production timetable, Whitman said.
In early July 2007
the Pentagon released another batch of orders for armored vehicles,
as part of the Mine Resistant
Ambush Protected (MRAP) and other armored vehicle programmes.
The new orders cover additional orders from Force protection
and International Engines and Trucks (IET), for 395 Category
I (Cougar) vehicles and
76 Category II vehicles (60 from Force Protection and 16 from
International). Further orders for 441 RG-33
based MRAP vehicles were awarded to BAE Systems. Two weeks later
(July 13), Stewart
& Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems, a subsidiary of BAE
Systems' Armor Holdings Inc. received another order for 1170
MRAP vehicles under a second order worth over half a billion
US$ ($518 million). Under this contract the company will supply
1,154 4x4 Category I vehicles and 16 Category II (6x6) vehicles
to be delivered by February 2008.
Under a parallel program the Army is buying at Textron Systems
369 additional M1117 armored
cars. However, with production capacity running short with
all US based armored vehicle production facilities, deliveries
of the recently awarded orders are to be fulfilled only next
year. The US Army is also buying additional 44 RG-31
Mk 5 vehicles from BAE Systems, these vehicles produced
by OMG in South Africa and are scheduled for delivery within
4 – 5 months.
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| Most of the
recent orders issued by the US Navy, on behalf of US Marine
Corps Systems Command address Category I (4x4) troop carriers,
destined to replace as many up-armored HMMWVs in theater. Other
vehicles were ordered by the US Army.
The USMC, managing the MRAP program, awarded Force Protection
Industries a fourth production order for 395 Category I and
60 Category II Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles,
worth $221 million. The vehicles are expected to be delivered
within 18 months. This order is equally split between Force
Protection and General Dynamics Land Systems, based on the Force
Dynamics cooperation agreement. International Military and
Government LLC (IMG) received a third delivery order worth $8
million for additional 16 Category II (CAT II) MRAP vehicles,
to be delivered by February 2008. The previous order awarded
to International covered about 1,000 Category I vehicles.
The RG-33 order includes 425 4x4 (Category
I) vehicles,of which 170 will be configured for the US Special
Operations Command, with the remaining 16 Catgory II (6x6) configured
as ambulances. BAE Systems will deliver vehicles based on the
RG-33 design, offering improved survivability and large armor
protected volume. The RG33L MRAP ambulance accommodates several
litter and ambulatory patients via a novel litter lift system.
The vehicle also provides space for a medic work station and
key medical equipment.
The U.S. Army ordered RG-31 Mk5 and M1117 ASV to fulfil other
missions, as part of ongoing orders running in parralel to the
MRAP program.
The Army ordered 44 RG-31 Mk5 Mine Protected Vehicles. The
$20 million covers the delivery of 44 vehicles, to be delivered
within 4-5 months. U.S. forces have previously ordered or received
448 RG-31 vehicles, including 265 Mk5s for the U.S. Army and
Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and 24 Mk5s for the U.S.
Marine Corps under the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)
vehicle program.
Under a separate contract the Army also added a procurement
order for 369 M1117 armored security vehicles (ASV) under a
contract worth $255.5 million awarded to Textron Marine &
Land, to deliver. The framework order was awarder in 2006. With
this award, the total number of ASVs produced or under contract
is now at 1729 vehicles, of which some 950 vehicles were built
to date. Production and deliveries of the ASV are continuing
at Textron Marine & Land with firm contracts through at
least October 2008.
The ASV is used by the United States Army for its military
police, convoy protection and Field Artillery Combat Observation
and Lasing Teams (COLT). Its record of performance, reliability
and survivability in the field is impeccable. More than 750
ASVs have been deployed in the Global War on Terrorism in support
of combat missions.
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