Posted on 07/15/2007 12:13:56 PM PDT by bnelson44
General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, has delivered its first Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to the U.S. Marine Corps from Anniston, Ala., less than 120 days after the company received its first production order for the new product.
The vehicle's unique, V-shaped hull is designed to deflect the force of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast away from the vehicle, keeping soldiers inside safe and alive. General Dynamics and its our partners, Force Protection, Anniston Army Depot and local subcontractors, are engaged in building these vehicles while increasing its combined production capacity to deliver 1000 vehicles per month.
The 80,000-square foot main General Dynamics assembly site for MRAP vehicles will eventually employ 220 new workers in Oxford, Ala. A supporting production site at the Anniston Army Depot will employ 50 new workers. General Dynamics Land Systems currently employs 240 workers at the depot building Fox and Stryker combat vehicles and the Abrams tank gunner's primary sight. 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 1000. Force Protection is a ballistics research and manufacturing enterprise, specializing in the development and production of highly-reinforced armored personnel carriers.
WASHINGTON: Delivery delays have spurred the Pentagon to consider ordering up to 20,000 more armored vehicles needed to protect U.S. soldiers from roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hampered by industry production constraints, the Marine Corps may launch a second competitive bid this month for upgraded Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles, according to a government document.
Production delays have put the Pentagon behind schedule on deployment so the second bid would aim to attract companies that may not have bid on the first go-round.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/13/business/NA-FIN-US-Pentagon-Armored-Vehicles.php
Amazing that it’s taken so long to field something better than an up-armored humvee.
Can I get one of these for commuting on the D.C. beltway?
Super-jeep.
Not only munitions-resistant, but able to ford streams and climb steep terrain.
What they could have done with something like this during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.
But the technology simply did not exist then.
It’s not as simple as just going to the GM showroom, the MRAP’s are a bitch to ship from a logistics standpoint, they are not designed for air transport with what we currently have, they are going to either be shipped via Russian contractor via a Kondor, or by container ship.
I am glad they finally got them however, that is good news indeed.
As someone who fought in Iraq,I still believe the best way to prevent IED attacks is to put a cap into somebody whilst they are in the process of burying them.
So what happens when they blow the tires and axel off the thing?
Hmmvs are nothing more than an SUV and it is a disgrace that they have been used as APCs since Somalia or ever again since then anyway. JMHO.
Found a You Tube of some Vehicles that are Mine Resistant but .....
Those are older vehicles.
Looks like they also will be asking for more bidders and increase production even more.
Good to see.
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