MRAP-ATV Contract Spills Over To SCHOTT North America

October 21, 2009 by Matthew Potter · 1 Comment
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, Oshkosh Truck Corp, Schott North America, Services, States, U.S. Army, logistics, production program 

Oshkosh Defense was awarded the contract to build the new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected – All Terrain Vehicle (MRAP-ATV) earlier this year for use in the rougher terrain of Afghanistan. Under this contract several thousand vehicles will be built for use by the Army, Marine Corps and other services. As with any contract of this size there will be large orders placed with the necessary sub-contractors.

For example Plasan in Vermont will provide armor plate for the vehicles as they have for other MRAP and up-armored trucks and HUMVEES. Now SCHOTT North America located in Indiana announced that they have received a contract from Oshkosh to provide armored glass for the MRAP-ATV.

The contract will be require over a hundred more workers to be hired and the company to invest about $7 million in their plants. This contract illustrates how large defense contracts while seemingly being awarded to only one company spread across the U.S. and foriegn suppliers as parts and components are produced.

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Unmanned Ground Vehicles As An IED Defense

September 8, 2009 by Matthew Potter · Comment
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Department of Defense, Events, IT, Oshkosh Truck Corp, Promotions, S&T, Services, U.S. Army, development program, logistics 

The U.S. Army is investing heavily in all sorts of unmanned aerial and ground vehicles for a variety of missions. The ones entering service so far have been used to collect intelligence and deal with mines, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) or unexploded ordnance. The systems to defeat the IED threat exist to minimize the exposure of personnel.

The Army is now also looking at autonomous vehicles that could be used to support logistic operations. In Iraq and Afghanistan there is a requirement for a great deal of vehicle activity to move men and supplies. There are just not enough helicopter or tactical transports to go around which forces a reliance on traditional road based truck traffic. These convoys provide a tempting target and as originally the vehicles tended to be lightly armored casualties were significant. That is why the U.S. invested heavily in Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and up-armored trucks and HUMVEEs.

Now Cnet reports that Oshkosh Corporation took one of their new unmanned ground tactical trucks to Fort Hood for a demonstration of its capabilities. The vehicle was outfitted with several different systems including drive-by-wire, scanning lasers for obstacle detection and a one that feeds data back to human operators.

If the systems are developed and work safely they will reduce U.S. casualties by forgoing the need to have the vehicles crewed. Of course as with everything there is a cost associated with this and the use of unmanned driving systems will increase the cost of what is a fairly cheap truck to move supplies a great deal. It is another example of the U.S.’s willingness to spend money to save lives.

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Israel Buying Armored Trucks In The U.S.

August 13, 2009 by Matthew Potter · Comment
Filed under: Alabama, Arotech, Business Line, Companies, Countries, Earnings, Events, Israel, Michigan, States, logistics, production program 

Arotech Corporation of Michigan reported their recent quarterly earnings. The company still performed at a loss but compared to the same quarter last year saw strong improvement. The company almost halved its loss from $1.9 million to $1 million on revenues that were up almost $3.5 million.

One of the prime reasons for this growth in revenues was the sale of armored trucks, the David, to Israel. The company also makes simulators and armored plate for the military market as well as some commercial products. It’s subsidiary, MDT Armor Corp, makes the David in Alabama.

Israel like the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq faces a significant mine and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threat. The provision of a armored truck makes sense as they must move supplies and troops by road along dangerous borders with the Gaza Strip or West Bank. The David is considered an “ultra light armored personnel carrier” that can defeat small arms and grenades as well as lighter IED attacks. The market for these kinds of vehicles is fairly significant as they can be used for internal security missions as well as light combat duty.

Unfortunately there are many parts of the world where military and police face these kind of threats from terrorist and insurgent groups. The David is one of several kinds of vehicles that would be useful in these kind of situations to move small groups of troops or supplies.

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