The Pentagon's aim to get up to 17,700 new armored vehicles to American soldiers in Iraq fast is making U.S. defense companies partners more than rivals on contracts worth up to $20 billion (¤14.8 billion), according to AP. The high number of U.S. soldiers overseas killed by improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs has convinced the Army to dramatically increase an order for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles. The MRAPs, designed with a V-shaped hull to repel explosives, will replace armored Humvees made by privately held AM General Corp. MRAP manufacturers are scrambling to ramp up production and work together to meet the unexpected demand even though 1,300 have already been sent to Iraq this year and another 600 will be delivered by year-end. Ladson, South Carolina-based Force Protection Industries Inc., which has a $490 million (¤363.5 million) contract for 1,000 MRAP vehicles, is teaming up with Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics Corp. under a joint venture called «Force Dynamics» to increase production capacity. The company is also partnering with Charlotte, Michigan-based Spartan Chassis Inc., a subsidiary of Spartan Motors Inc., for automotive integration work and with Sealy, Texas-based Armor Holdings Inc. for additional automotive work. In a memo this week to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren outlined plans to expedite the MRAP purchases over the next two years. Nine companies were selected earlier this year to each build four test vehicles. A Marine Corps-led joint program is expected to pick the winners. Contracts are expected to be awarded as soon as June after the first phase of testing, according to a Navy official. Executives say they wish one contractor and one design would be selected, but federal rules and the inability of any one company to quickly produce what's need make it likely that the Navy will select multiple contractors and more than one design, said Michael Aldrich, a vice president at Force Protection. «We felt we had the premier design for these types of vehicles and we felt the only reason we wouldn't get the award was because of an inability to produce them in great enough numbers fast enough,» Aldrich said in a telephone interview. In addition to Aldrich's company, Oshkosh Truck Corp., BAE Systems Inc., General Dynamics and Jacksonville, Florida-based Armor Holdings Inc., among others, want in on the action. Providence, Rhode Island-based Textron Inc. reportedly bowed out of the competition earlier this month although it has received $2.8 million (¤2.1 million) to build four test vehicles that will be delivered later. Protected Vehicles Inc. said it is partnering with Oshkosh Truck to supply the automotive components, including engines and transmissions, and Israeli-based Rafael Armament Development Authority will design sensitive-explosive armor for the vehicles, said Drew Felty, a spokesman for the North Charleston, South Carolina-based company. «It would be a pretty tough program to undertake for anybody to do by themselves,» said Felty. «As the volumes of production of armored vehicles increased, it was clear that there was a definite need to get together on this.» Combined production rates will allow Protected Vehicles to deliver 4,100 vehicles faster than the Marine Corps' requested schedule, a company spokesman said. Oshkosh spokeswoman Ann Stawski declined to comment on plans to partner with companies to meet MRAP demands. The Oshkosh, Wis.-based company won a $30.6 million (¤22.7 million) contract in late February to deliver 100 MRAPs within four months. BAE Systems Inc., an American subsidiary of the British defense conglomerate BAE Systems PLC, is hoping to have a competitive edge with its May 7 $4.1 billion (¤3.04 billion) bid to buy Armor Holdings. The deal is scheduled to close in the third quarter but must pass an antitrust review and scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Representatives from General Dynamics, Textron and Armor Holdings could not be reached for comment. The Pentagon says the program is its top acquisition priority, and Pentagon officials met with Army brass this week to discuss getting it done as soon as possible. «The fact that this is all happening so fast, the fact that we are going through eight different contractors, saying, 'Send us your vehicles. We're going to blow them up and we're going to run them hard and we're going to determine in a very rapid fashion (if) they will meet the requirements'... It's just much faster» than normal, Gen. James T. Conway, a Marine Corps commandant, said at a Pentagon press briefing Thursday. -- SPA
