These types of vehicles are currently being fielded by both the Army and Marines in theater...and production is ramping up significantly from the looks of it.



US Marines Order Another 1,200 MRAP Mine-Resistant Vehicles for $623M

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued May 31, 2007)

International Military and Government LLC (IMG), Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded $623,073,400 for delivery order #0002 under previously awarded firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for 1,200 additional Category I (CAT I) Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) vehicles.

The CAT I is an MRAP vehicle provided for the Marine Corp and other Joint Forces that is needed in convoy operations. The MRAP vehicles are required to increase survivability and mobility of troops operating in a hazardous fire area against known threats such as small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades, and improvised explosive devices.

Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., and work is expected to be completed by February 2008. Contract funds in the amount of $623,073,400 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured.

The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. (ends)


--------------------------------------


Developed in conjunction with Israel’s Plasan Sasa, IMG’s MaxxPro is one of several types of mine-resistant vehicles being bought by the Pentagon. (Navistar photo)

(Source: Navistar International Corporation; issued May 31, 2007)

WARRENVILLE, Ill. --- Navistar International Corporation announced today that its military subsidiary, International Military and Government, LLC, has been awarded a $623 million contract by the U.S. Marine Corps to provide 1,200 Category I Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to be delivered by the end of February 2008.

The vehicle is called the International MaxxPro and recent estimates value the total military MRAP procurement at more than $8 billion and in excess of 7,700 units.

"The opportunity to provide U.S. Armed Forces with protected vehicles is a great privilege," said Daniel C. Ustian, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Navistar International Corporation. "A U.S. military vehicle order of this magnitude re-establishes Navistar as a prime supplier of tactical wheeled vehicles under the International brand. Our employees at U.S. plants nationwide will take pride in providing these military vehicles to help protect our forces overseas. The award fits with our strategy of leveraging our existing assets to achieve growth in markets outside of our traditional core businesses. We remain committed to investing in products that give us a sustainable competitive advantage at all points of the truck cycle and increasing our volume to give us better scale."

International delivered four units to the Marine Corps in March 2007 for extensive testing at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds to evaluate crew survivability and performance. The MaxxPro powered by an International MaxxForce turbocharged diesel engine was designed around the following:

- Crew survivability. International's MaxxPro features unique and advanced armoring and design technology to protect occupants on the battlefield from today's threats.

- Mission accomplishment. International designed the MaxxPro vehicle with protection, versatility and reliability in mind.

- Capability for immediate high rate of production. As one of the largest commercial truck and engine manufacturers, International has a dedicated integration facility for military vehicle production and is able to rapidly ramp up production to meet the military's desired levels.

- Ease of service and superior life cycle value. It is vital for U.S. forces on the battlefield to get vehicles maintained and returned to action as quickly as possible. Internationals MRAP vehicles were designed with operational readiness in mind. Commonality and utilization of readily available and well proven truck components helps reduce the logistical footprint for parts and service which maximizes uptime.

With vehicles needed urgently on the battlefield, International's proven production capabilities and exemplary performance for delivering quality products on time will be a key consideration by the U.S. Military for any future procurements against the contract.

"We are proud to be supplying MRAP vehicles to the Department of Defense," said Archie Massicotte, President of International Military and Government, LLC. "We understand the urgency of delivering these 1,200 units and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our production capabilities for producing high-quality, lifesaving units to an aggressive timetable."

International utilizes a modular concept, developed in conjunction with armor solutions provider Plasan Sasa, to armor its MaxxPro vehicles. The design positions the v-shaped crew compartment on top of International's proven heavy-duty truck chassis. The v-shaped hull is designed to deflect blasts from underneath the truck to dissipate around the crew area, minimizing damage.

"Our nation's heroes are the men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces who risk their lives daily for our freedom," said Massicotte. "We've made it our mission to develop military vehicles that will keep them safer, so they can return home to their families when their mission is accomplished. The efforts and dedication of the governments MRAP program team during this procurement has been outstanding and they need to be commended for getting our forces the best possible vehicles for the task at hand. We at International are poised and ready to deliver."

International Military and Government LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Truck and Engine Corporation. IMG was established to focus on military and government opportunities.

-ends-

GD Expands Alabama Facility for MRAP Production

(Source: General Dynamics Land Systems; issued June 12, 2007)

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. --- General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, will establish assembly operations for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Anniston and Oxford, Ala., and beginning mid-June will increase employment there by 270. In addition, General Dynamics will invest approx. $2.6 million in capital improvements to the facilities.

The main production site for assembly of MRAP vehicles will employ 220 new workers in an 80,000 square-foot leased portion of a BR Williams-owned building in Oxford. A supporting production site in Building 169, on Anniston Army Depot, will employ 50 new workers. General Dynamics Land Systems currently employs 240 workers on the depot building Fox and Stryker combat vehicles.

The assembly operations are being created to support a $244.5 million work order awarded on April 30 by Force Protection, Inc. to assist with the production of 1,000 vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps' Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program.

Force Protection and General Dynamics have formed a joint venture, Force Dynamics, to share in the production and program management of the contract. The Alabama sites will add production capacity for Force Protection's Category I 4x4 and Category II 6x6 Cougar vehicles.

Anniston Army Depot will partner with General Dynamics and perform a share of the MRAP work. General Dynamics also contracted with BR Williams to operate a warehouse in Oxford to support the new production operations.

General Dynamics currently employs approximately 700 workers throughout Alabama. These new positions will increase total General Dynamics employment in the state to nearly 1,000.

New Trucks Will Save Lives

Marine Corps News | June 15, 2007
source link

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The commandant of the Marine Corps met with assembly-line workers June 9 to observe production of the new troop-carrying trucks designed to withstand Long War punishment.

The production plant, owned by Force Protection Industries, has delivered hundreds of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles to American troops in the Middle East.

“I wanted to look them in the eye, personally thank them and let them know that plenty of Marines are counting on them," said Gen. James T. Conway, proclaiming the company was truly mobilized and focused on saving American lives.

About 1,000 plant employees are outfitting Marines fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan with dozens of MRAP vehicles each month, and the company plans to have 1,000 MRAP vehicles delivered to the Marine Corps by March 2008.

The Marine Corps currently drives two models at prices ranging from $480,000 to $790,000: the four- and six-wheel drive “Cougar,” and the hefty “Buffalo,” weighing more than 22 short tons.

“These vehicles are going to save lives.” said Conway. “A Marine riding in a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle is less likely to be killed or injured when engaged by an enemy employing the same type of improvised explosive device that would rip through the undercarriage of an up-armored humvee.”

Different from humvees, the MRAP vehicle’s V-shaped hull deflects an explosion rather than absorbs it.

“Everyone at the company enjoys and takes great pride in their work,” said Carrie Reavenell, a welder and fitter. “Other people send care packages; we send care trucks.”

Conway also test-drove a “Cheetah” prototype designed for reconnaissance and urban operations and able to sustain highway speeds up to 75 mph.

“If it proves itself through further testing, the Cheetah will offer the same survivability rates as its predecessors,” said Conway. “But it's also designed to be relevant beyond Iraq.”

Force Protection Wins $221M Order for MRAP Vehicles

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued June 19, 2007)

Force Protection Industries, Inc., Ladson, S.C., is being awarded a $221,688,050 firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5031) for additional 395 Category I and 60 Category II Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) vehicles.

Work will be performed in Ladson, S.C., and work is expected to be completed by December 2008.Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year.This contract was competitively procured.

The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

-ends-

General Dynamics Awarded USD$20 Million Contract to Supply RG-31 Mk5 Mine Protected Vehicles to the U.S. Army

(Source: General Dynamics Land Systems Canada; issued June 20, 2007)

LONDON, Ontario --- The U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, in support of the Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support (PEO CS&CSS), has awarded a contract for USD$19.9 million to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to provide 44 RG-31 Mk5 Mine Protected Vehicles. General Dynamics Land Systems, the Canadian company's parent corporation, is a business unit of General Dynamics.

The contract was signed through the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a Crown Agency of the Canadian Government. Under this contract, General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada will provide program management, while BAE Land Systems OMC of South Africa will manufacture the vehicles. Deliveries will occur from October 2007 to November 2007.

The RG-31 Mk5 is the latest version of the highly successful RG-31 vehicle family. 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. The vehicles have proven to be highly effective against mines, improvised explosive devices and ballistic threats encountered by U.S. and allied forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

US Army Rushes to Deploy New Armored Vehicles

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued June 20, 2007)

WASHINGTON --- The Army is working with its sister services to ramp up production of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle and speed up the timetable for getting it to deployed troops, Pete Geren, the Army secretary nominee, said yesterday.

Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, Geren, currently the acting secretary, said he shares the Army’s commitment to getting MRAPs to Iraq and Afghanistan “as quickly as we possibly can.”

Geren noted that Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, has requested more than 17,000 of the new armored vehicles to replace Humvees. Army leaders are evaluating which Humvees need to be replaced, based on the missions they are used to conduct, and to set priorities for getting MRAPs fielded, he said.

“We’re working with the Navy and the Marines to ramp up the production capacity so that we can get these to the theaters as fast as possible,” he said. “I think that we have to look at them as a vehicle that'll part of Army going forward.”

The Marines have had good success with the MRAPs, which have raised, V-shaped underbellies that deflect the force of improvised explosive devices and other blasts from below.

Sixty-five MRAPs in use in Iraq are saving Marines’ lives, Lt. Gen. Emerson Garner, the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for programs and resources, told a congressional committee earlier this year.

“Our experience is that Marines in these vehicles have been four or five times safer than a Marine in an armored Humvee,” Garner told members of the House and Senate Sea Power and Expeditionary Forces subcommittees. “Based on this experience, we recently decided to replace our armored Humvees in theater on a one-for-one basis with MRAPs.”

The Marines’ success caught Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ attention, and he’s pushing to speed up the timetable for getting more MRAPs to troops in Iraq.

Up-armored Humvees offered the best protection available when they were fielded, but Gates told Pentagon reporters in May that MRAPs provide even more. “Now we have something better, and we’re going to get that to the field as best we can,” he said.

Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and head of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, recently visited Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., with other defense leaders to see the various versions of the MRAP being considered.

“MRAP vehicles have saved lives in Iraq and will continue to save lives,” the admiral said. “It is the best vehicle protection we have to date.”

-ends-

Armor Holdings, Inc. Receives $518 Million MRAP Award

(Source: Armor Holdings, Inc.; issued July 18, 2007)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- Armor Holdings, a leading manufacturer and distributor of military vehicles, vehicle armor systems and life safety and survivability systems serving military, law enforcement, homeland security and commercial markets, announced today the receipt of a new prime contract award by the U.S. Navy for $518.5 million to provide Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

Work will be performed in 2007 and early 2008 by the Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group at its facilities located in Fairfield, Ohio and Sealy, Texas.

Robert Schiller, President of Armor Holdings, Inc., said, "We are extremely proud that the Armor Holdings "Caiman" MRAP offering, which maximizes commonality with the U.S. Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), has been selected by the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense leadership. We also look forward to our continued support for other MRAP vehicle suppliers and to the continuation of the FMTV and Up-Armored HMMWV programs.

“This new "Caiman" MRAP award adds to our customer's ability to provide additional quantities of deployable MRAP vehicles by year-end and we are honored to be such a significant participant in this vital program."


Armor Holdings will supply the Marine Corps with 1,170 of its mine-resistant armored vehicles, called Caimans.

Gates Asks Congress to Transfer More Funds to MRAP Program

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued July 18, 2007)

WASHINGTON --- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday asked Congress for approval to transfer nearly $1.2 billion to the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program to get an estimated 3,500 of the vehicles to Iraq by the year’s end, defense officials announced today.

The funds, to be added to almost $4 billion already programmed for MRAPs this year, will speed up the timetable for getting deployed troops the best armored vehicles possible, said John Young, director of defense research and engineering and chairman of the Defense Department’s MRAP task force.

By reprogramming an additional $1.2 billion to the program, the department can sign contracts for an additional 2,650 MRAPs, Young told Pentagon reporters today. This will bring the department’s total MRAP order to 6,415.

Nearly three-quarters of those MRAPs are slated for delivery by Dec. 31. “By the end of the year, we hope to have delivered 3,935 vehicles,” he said.

Factoring in the time required to equip those vehicles with jammers, communication equipment and other gear and to deliver them to the theater, Young estimated that about 3,500 of the MRAPs will be in Iraq by Dec. 31.

Meeting last night with the House and Senate Armed Services and Appropriation committees, Gates emphasized the importance of getting the V-hulled vehicles that deflect underbelly blasts to the combat zone as quickly as possible, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

Gates told Congress “time is of the essence,” because “every month troops go without MRAPs could indeed cost lives,” Morrell said. “The secretary came away from his meeting confident that Congress recognizes the urgency of this request, and he is hopeful they will quickly approve it,” he said.

Congress already has shown solid support for MRAPs. The legislators added $1.2 billion to the department’s initial $2.6 billion request for the program for fiscal 2007, Young said.

If approved, the fund transfer to the MRAP program will make it the Defense Department’s third-largest acquisition program, he noted. Only the missile defense and Joint Strike Fighter programs will be bigger.

But dollars alone aren’t enough to get MRAPs to the field, defense officials recognize. “There are no parking lots anywhere where we can go and buy lots of MRAPs,” said Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command.

Another problem is that no existing production lines were equipped to pump out as many MRAPs as the department needs as fast as it needs them.

A joint Defense Department team is jumping through hoops to cut through those obstacles and move MRAP procurement as quickly as possible, Young said. “This is not being handled in a business-as-usual fashion,” he said.

The Defense Department has dramatically compressed the normal contracting process, worked around the clock to test potential vehicles, and helped industry aggressively ramp up production capacity, Morrell told reporters.

Four companies currently produce MRAPs, and another may join the effort soon if its prototype model measures up, Brogan said. These companies are quickly increasing their production rates to keep up with demand.

But the MRAP task force’s first challenge, Young said, was to make sure the materials and parts required for MRAPs were being produced at rates fast enough to keep up with production.

For example, the tire industry was able to produce only about 1,000 of the large, heavy-duty MRAP tires per month in June. To keep pace with plans to build about 1,300 MRAPs per month by December, at least 6,000 tires a month would be needed.

“We have taken steps to help two vendors increase their ability to build tires, and we are buying tires as fast as they can produce them so that we don’t have a shortage,” Young said.

The task force faced similar issues with steel, axles, engines and other MRAP components, and is taking similar measures to ensure they’re available, he said.

To help their efforts, Gates assigned the MRAP program a “DX” rating in June to ensure other defense programs don’t interfere with MRAP production, said Young. DX ratings are reserved for top-priority defense acquisition programs.

“The DX rating provides MRAP the highest-priority access to components and materials if supplier capacity cannot meet the demand from all programs,” Young explained.

Another challenge in MRAP acquisition is ensuring the vehicles produced are up to standard and provide the best protection possible, he said.

Testers at the Army’s Aberdeen Test Center, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., are putting MRAPs through the paces, Brogan said. Working three shifts around the clock, they’re evaluating prototypes to ensure they provide adequate ballistic protection and operate reliably.

In addition, troops who have served in Iraq are testing the vehicles under conditions designed to replicate the combat theater, he said.

As production capabilities increase, Morrell said, it’s “imperative to take full advantage of that new-found capacity.”

Troops in Iraq deserve nothing less than the very best armored vehicles possible, the officials said.

“Our troops battling improvised explosive devices deserve the very best protection available,” Morrell said. “And right now, that is an armored vehicle with a raised chassis and a V-shaped undercarriage, features that make MRAPs better able to deflect blasts on roadside and deeply buried bombs.”



Click here for full transcript of July 18 Pentagon news briefing on the MRAP program with John Young, MRAP Task Force Chairman and others from the Pentagon (HTML format)

-ends-

Defense Department Seeks MRAP Improvements While Accelerating Program

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued July 19, 2007)

WASHINGTON --- Even as the Defense Department hurries to get as many Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles as possible to Iraq, it’s busy working to improve on the heavily armored vehicles to make them more survivable and easier to maintain.

The department is on the fast track to get the V-hulled vehicles that provide increased protection against underbelly blasts as quickly as they roll off the assembly line. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress for approval to transfer an additional $1.2 billion to the MRAP program. If approved, the department will be able to increase its total MRAP order to 6,415 vehicles. An estimated 3,500 vehicles are expected to be delivered to Iraq by Dec. 31.

“We are always looking for improvement,” said Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command, who serves on the Defense Department’s MRAP task force. “We want to get better. We want to go faster.”

That eye for improvement extends to the vehicles themselves. Even as the assembly lines run at full throttle, the Defense Department is seeking ways to improve on the current MRAPs, senior defense officials explained during a Pentagon news conference yesterday, testimony on Capitol Hill today and in an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel.

Testers at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., have been working around the clock since January to evaluate prototype vehicles to ensure they provide needed protection and are able to stand up to combat conditions, said Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, the Army’s deputy chief for programs and resources and a member of the Defense Department’s MRAP task force.

“It will do us no good to put a piece of equipment over in the combat zone that doesn’t have the kinds of capabilities we need,” he said.

As they evaluate the vehicles, the Aberdeen Test Center staff is looking at ways to improve them, passing recommendations from military testers directly to the vendors, Brogan said.

Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have served in the combat theater get behind the wheel and subject the MRAPs to the same kinds of conditions they faced there. Their feedback gets passed to vendors, and some of their recommendations already are being incorporated into the vehicles, he said.

The goal, Brogan said, is to “ensure that what we deliver to the troops is exactly what they need to accomplish their mission.”

Troop testing is just one part of a three-part testing regime that’s ensuring MRAPs being fielded meet critical standards.

“Exploitation testing” ensures they have the ballistic protection required to stand up to improvised explosive devices and other ballistics, Brogran said. Automotive testing ensures they’re reliable in conditions they’re likely to encounter in Iraq.

Just as the constantly changing battlefield requires troops to constantly adapt their tactics, techniques and procedures, Speakes said, their equipment needs to adapt, too.

“Right now we know one thing: Soldiers and Marines need improved protection, and MRAP is the immediate solution,” he said. “And we’re all part of a team that’s committed to providing the very best as fast as we can.”

-ends-

‘Herculean Work’ Drives MRAP Production, Procurement, Officials Say

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued July 20, 2007)

WASHINGTON--- The Defense Department is marshalling all resources possible to speed up the delivery of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to deployed troops as quickly as possible, defense officials told Congress yesterday.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates established the MRAP task force to push his highest-priority program and is overseeing its work closely, John Young, task force chairman, told a joint hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Expeditionary and Air and Land Forces subcommittees.

Gates asked Congress earlier this week for approval to shift an additional $1.2 billion from other defense programs to the MRAP effort. This would bring the department’s MRAP budget for 2007 to $5.4 billion and enable it to increase its total MRAP order to 6,415 vehicles. An estimated 3,500 vehicles are expected to be in Iraq by Dec. 31.

“The reprogramming is urgent,” Young told the House members yesterday. “Thirty to 45 vehicles are estimated per day to slip into 2008 if we delay.”

Young described the “Herculean work” under way to support that effort. The Defense Department is compressing the normal contracting process. Testers at the Aberdeen Test Center at Aberdeen, Md., are working 24/7 to test potential vehicles.

The Defense Department is helping industry aggressively ramp up production capacity. The Defense Logistics Agency is buying enough tires and steel to avoid shortages that could delay the program, he said.

As MRAPs roll off the assembly line, a Naval Warfare System Center team in Charleston, S.C., is quickly installing the government-furnished equipment such as radios, sensors and jammers.

Then U.S. Transportation Command is flying the vehicles to Iraq, reducing the time ship delivery would take.

“This is not a business-as-usual process,” Young said. “I have seen tremendous coordination, collaboration and cooperation all in an effort to achieve the goal this team shares with Secretary Gates -- urgent delivery of the maximum number of MRAPs to put this capability in the hands of our forces.”

Even with these measures taken, Young said he recognizes MRAP contractors will face challenges in keeping up with demand.

“We may encounter manufacturing, spare parts and maintenance issues as we accelerate, but Secretary Gates and the entire Defense Department leadership team agree we should accept these risks in order to provide more capable vehicles to our troops as absolutely fast as possible,” he said.

Despite the new capabilities the MRAPs will offer, Young emphasized that the vehicles are “not a panacea.”

“The threat will adapt and adjust, and the Army and Marine Corps team will work to anticipate these steps and develop responses,” Young said.

Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command and MRAP program executive officer, said the Defense Department is looking toward additional capabilities that could be needed down the road.

“We recognize there are additional threats that have to be dealt with and we have a spiral effort working to incorporate those improved survivability features either into these vehicles or into a subsequent vehicle,” Brogan said.

But while keeping an eye to the future, the Defense Department is forging ahead to field the current MRAP models now. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for programs and requirements, called the MRAPs being fielded “just one more stage in a continuing evolution of capabilities we must provide to soldiers in harm's way.”

Speakes praised efforts under way to “provide the capability to soldiers now, not to think about it, not to pontificate about it, but to deliver.”

“Our goal right now is to field the MRAP as we know it today as rapidly possible,” agreed Brogan. “The Marine Corps and our teammates are committed to delivering them the maximum number of survivable vehicles that have test-proven performance in the shortest time possible.”

-ends-

U.S. Marine Corps Ordering More Category 1 MRAP Units from International Military and Government, LLC

(Source: Navistar International Corporation; issued July 23, 2007)

WARRENVILLE, Ill. --- Navistar International Corporation announced today that its military subsidiary, International Military and Government, LLC, has received an incremental order from the U.S. Marine Corps for 755 additional Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles valued at approximately $414 million to be delivered by the end of February 2008.

The current order brings International's total orders due by February 2008, to 1,971 MRAP's totaling over $1.045 billion. The International MaxxPro military vehicle is the Category I MRAP offering from International Military and Government designed to protect troops from roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

"The urgency to rapidly deliver these life saving armored vehicles to our military forces is clear," said Daniel C. Ustian, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Navistar International Corporation. "We are working with the U.S. military and our supply base to increase our production capacity at our facilities to meet the aggressive demand and provide these MRAP vehicles into the hands of our Marines, soldiers and sailors as quickly as possible. Every day of production is critical. We are honored and proud to be providing these mission critical vehicles to the U.S. military."

International utilizes a state of the art modular armor concept, developed in conjunction with Plasan Sasa, to armor its MaxxPro vehicles. Plasan Sasa, a world-class provider of armor solutions, is rapidly expanding its capacity and focusing dedicated resources on meeting the increasing MRAP demand for MaxxPro vehicles. The design positions the v-shaped crew compartment on top of International's proven heavy-duty truck chassis. The v-shaped hull is designed to deflect blasts away from the truck to minimize impact around the crew area.

The MaxxPro powered by an International MaxxForce turbocharged diesel engine was designed around the following:

- Crew survivability. International's MaxxPro features unique and advanced armoring and design technology to protect occupants on the battlefield from today's threats.

- Mission accomplishment. International designed the MaxxPro vehicle with protection, versatility and reliability in mind.

- Capability for immediate high rate of production. As one of the largest commercial truck and engine manufacturers, International has a dedicated integration facility for military vehicle production and is able to rapidly ramp up production to meet the military's desired levels.

- Ease of service and superior life cycle value. It is vital for U.S. forces on the battlefield to get vehicles maintained and returned to action as quickly as possible. Internationals MRAP vehicles are designed with operational readiness in mind. Commonality and utilization of readily available and well proven truck components helps reduce the logistical footprint for parts and service which maximizes uptime.

--------------------------------------

IMG Wins $414M Order for MRAP Vehicles

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued July 20, 2007)

International Military and Government LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded $413,869,860 for firm-fixed-priced, delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for an additional 755 Category I (CAT I) Mine Resistance Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) vehicles.

The CAT I is an MRAP vehicle provided for the Marine Corps and other Joint Forces that is needed in convoy operations. The MRAP vehicles are required to increase survivability and mobility of troops operating in a hazardous fire area against known threats such as small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades, and improvised explosive devices.

Work will be performed in WestPoint, Miss., and work is expected to be completed by February 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured.

The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

-ends-