Navistar Defense Gets $183M

Navistar Defense announced today it has received a new $183 million delivery order from the US Marine Corps Systems Command for 250 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) International MaxxPro Dash ambulances with DXM independent suspension. This complements last week’s $13 million delivery order for MRAP field service representatives, instructors and mechanics, with work to be completed in Kuwait.

The ambulances will be a modified version of Navistar's mine-resistant, ambush-protected trucks, or MRAPs, already used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The heavily armored trucks are designed to withstand blasts from roadside land mines, the leading cause of U.S. casualties in the Middle East conflicts. The ambulances will be outfitted with an independent suspension system to make them maneuverable in Afghanistan's rugged, mountainous terrain.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded an $18,800,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2303) for additional class services associated with the detail design and construction of the Zumwalt-class (DDG 1000) destroyer. This work will provide technical and industrial engineering in the interpretation and application of the detailed design to support construction and the maintenance of a safe and operable ship design. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and is expected to be completed by July 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
The MRAP ambulances feature a litter-assist system to allow medics to easily move stretcher-bound patients into the vehicles. The ambulances will be assembled at Navistar's West Point, Miss., plant and the order is expected to be completed by the end of September.

Illinois-based Navistar has built more than 8,000 of the armored trucks for the U.S. military since 2007. The company expects sales of military trucks, parts and service to total about $2 billion this year.