Defense Technology International - July 2007 - (Page 23)

DISPATCHES GLOBAL RAMPING UP I competition, which aims to replace tens of thousands of Humvees. Pruitt says that to ﬁll orders and meet growing demand, Force Protection must accelerate production, while expanding its workforce and facilities, increasing material stocks and reﬁning designs. The ﬁrm inherited several big buildings when it moved to its site. One became a parts Force Protection mobilizes to warehouse and another houses a research and development branch. In July, Force keep pace with MRAP demand Protection announced that it was acquiring a new 430,000-sq.-ft. facility in Roxboro, DAVID AXE•LADSON, S.C. N.C., capable of producing up to 2,000 nside a cavernous former General deployed Marines were turned down by Cheetahs per year. Three years ago, Force Protection emElectric turbine plant on the outskirts the service’s weapons-buying bureaucraof this tiny town, hundreds of workers cy—Defense Secretary Robert Gates in ployed 200 people. Now it has nearly 1,000. crawl over the shells of incomplete Cougar, May called MRAP his “highest priority” Pruitt credits the state and local technical Buffalo and Mastiff armored trucks. This for procurement and stated a requirement schools with helping recruit and train lais the assembly ﬂoor of Force Protection for up to 17,000 vehicles. That has since bor, but layoffs by automakers are the maInc., which builds a menagerie of blast- ballooned to 22,000 trucks for the Army, jor reason workers are available. “Detroit’s problems have beneﬁted us,” proof vehicles for an alphabet he admits. soup of Pentagon programs Because of capacity limits, and a growing list of foreign Force Protection has shared customers. production of vehicles for Three years ago, the firm Iraq and Cougars with GD struggled to build a dozen and BAE, respectively. But vehicles per month for niche GD and BAE are Force Army and Marine Corps orProtection’s competitors in ders, mostly Explosive OrdMRAP: General Dynamics nance Disposal teams. By summer 2006 it had ramped scored its most recent RG-31 up to 30 per month but order—$20 million for 44 sometimes fell behind schedvehicles—in June while Force ule. A year later, Force ProtecProtection was awaiting longtion builds 200 trucks every expected MRAP orders. These odd couplings are inmonth in Ladson, co-manuevitable results of the MRAP factures 300 with partners mobilization. When it comes like General Dynamics Land to blastproof trucks, the PenSystems and BAE Systems, tagon believes that timely has doubled its staff and has Force Protection worker with a partially assemstockpiled a three-month sup- bled Buffalo armored truck. U.S. demand for MRAP deliveries trump traditional business relationships. Gates ply of materials. vehicles is at 22,000 and counting. insists that industry will adapt. Force Protection is ﬁnally ahead of the curve in what spokesman Navy, Air Force, Marines and Special “This is not so much about industry having to change fundamentally the way they do Tommy Pruitt calls “the single biggest Forces through 2010. Force Protection builds mostly 16-ton business,” he says. “It is simply ﬁnding ways military vehicle mobilization since World Cougar transports, but also 23-ton Buffa- to produce more of these vehicles faster.” War II.” One consequence of rapid acquisition The company’s story illustrates the loes optimized for bomb disposal, to meet a challenges the Pentagon faces in trying to steady stream of delivery contracts, the most for the Pentagon is that there has been no rapidly replace every up-armored Humvee recent in mid-June valued at $221 million time to install a support base for the new performing combat missions in Iraq and Af- and calling for 455 Cougars through next vehicles—and even if there were, the variety ghanistan. Three years ago, the blastproof year. Force Protection’s order book includes of MRAP designs (seven at last count, with truck market was worth a few hundred 1,800 MRAPs. The ﬁrm is also building up others in the wings) makes standardized lomillion dollars a year. Now it’s as much as to 1,000 Cougar derivatives for the Iraqi gistics impossible. As a result, manufacturers $10 billion annually. That growth has in- army, and in June wrapped up a 100-unit are paid to manage much of the deployed spired a Herculean industrial effort, unusual order for Cougar-derived Mastiffs for the maintenance. Production contracts typically corporate wheeling and dealing and some British Army. include two years of ﬁeld support. Force unintended logistical consequences for the In July, U.S. Army Col. Raymond Protection alone has several dozen employBouchard said the police training team he ees in Iraq overseeing maintenance. I U.S. military. The fast-expanding Mine-Resistant represents is looking to equip the Afghan Ambush-Protected (MRAP) program national police, probably with Cougars. To read one of our many posts on MRAPs, go to DTI’s homepage: Meanwhile, Force Protection is pois driving armored truck demand. After aviationweek.com/dti and click on ‘Extras for two years of delay—during which repeat- sitioning its new 7-ton Cheetah for the this issue’ under ‘DTI Interactive.’ ed requests for blastproof transport from forthcoming Joint Light Tactical Vehicle DAVID AXE/DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL www.aviationweek.com/dti JULY/AUGUST 2007 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 23 http://aviationweek.com/dti http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - July 2007

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