Armored vehicles

The Royal Jordanian Army is upgrading 300 M113A1 Armored Personnel Carriers. The U.S. Army awarded BAE Systems a $43.3 million contract to deliver complete kits to be assembled in Jordan. The company will deliver 300 modification kits comprising an uprated engine, transmission, cooling systems, electrical system and suspension, upgrading the vehicles into M113A2Mk1 configuration. “The M113 is one of...

The Pentagon released last week (March 14, 2008) five new contracts for the dlivery of 2,243 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles at a total value of these contracts is over $1.14 billion. These new orders will to be completed by November 2008. Sharing these new orders are BAE Systems, International Military and Government LLC (IMG), and, to a...

Suspended by straps anchored to several points on the roof and sides, Autoflug seats protect the crew from side and bottom mine and IED blasts. The ergonomically optimized seats provide an optimized working position, which reduces fatigue and stress during long operations. The seats protect the crew by eliminating the direct effect of a blast's shock wave because they...

Force Protection Industries, Inc. received a third order from the Marine Corps Systems Command, worth $480 million for the delivery of 1,000Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. This is the largest order received by Force Protection to date, representing about 25% of the entire anticipated MRAP buy. According to the Force Dynamics JV , 50% of the contract ($244.50 million)...

IMI is developing a new hybrid armor (passive) designed to withstand commonly used types of RoadSide IEDs (RSIED), including the sophisticated Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFP) and Self Formed Fragmentation (SFF) charges. The unique combination of the new hybrid armor is the result of extensive study conducted at IMI, in an attempt to protect warfighters at levels beyond those offered by conventional armor,...

The New York Times reports on the first fatality inflicted by a roadside bomb attack on a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) armored vehicle; these vehicles were recently deployed to Iraq in an effort to improve the protection of US patrols in the country. The crew suffered one fatality (the gunner) and three injuries from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack. “It’s a...

The tank is not dead. In its annual analysis “The Market for Tanks,” the Forecast International (FI) Weapons Group projects that the international market will produce over 7,600 new main battle tanks, worth in excess of $31.5 billion, through 2016. Significant spending is also directed to retrofits and upgrades. According to FI analyst Dean Lockwood, “in 2006, U.S. Department of...

BAE Systems is positioning itself to win a larger slice of the Indian defense market and, in particular, the production of armored vehicles. The company is seeking to establish joint ventures with local companies. Last week India defense online magazine mentioned BAE Systems confirmed it held discussions with Indian automotive giants Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, among other Indian industrial groups,...

Major acquisition programs currently being formulated will replace major fragments of the FCS. For example, instead of the eight variants of the tracked manned Ground Vehicle, cancelled along with FCS, the Army is seeking new vehicles to be developed under the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program being formulated these days. TRADOC and Ft. Monroe are working to map the capability-gaps...

As vehicle manufacturers ramp up production of Mine resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to address urgent requirement to increase troop protection, DOD is about to eliminate two vendors, and several vehicle variants, in an attempt to streamline the program. The new process is expected to solve conflicting demands for hard-steel supplies, reduce vehicle preparation time, including installation of government...

As the Pentagon nears its selection of competing Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) teams, prospective vehicles are being completed for the planned finale. One of the candidates, the Northrop-Grumman (NYSE: NOC)/Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK) team successfully passed tests of the armor suite designed for the JLTV by Oshkosh and Plasan USA. One of the advantages of this team's design is the use...

As enemy threats to warfighters evolve, the technology used to protect the troops in the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) is evolving as well. Last week the US Marine Corps released a solicitation to the industry, asking for proposals for even more capable MRAPs. Currently, more than 5,690 MRAPs have been ordered. About 210 vehicles are already operational in...

Solidica, Inc. will demonstrate a 'smart armor' concept under a US Marine Corps program funded by US$1.6 million award. The program will demonstrate how an armor, embedded with special sensors can perform damage assessment immediately after being effected by hostile fire and alert the vehicle's health management system about the level of damage suffered in combat. The program is...

QinetiQ will develop and demonstrate advanced layered protection concepts, improving the survivability of armored vehicles as part of the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) Vehicle Technology Integration Demonstrator (VTID) program. The program's objectives are to evaluate survivability and protection solutions beyond traditional armor. The program will assess a wide range of survivability solutions, from visual awareness and sensor suites,...