Defense Technology International - October 2007 - (Page 20) DISPATCHES GLOBAL ONE THAT GOT AWAY Trade rule bars popular Namibian armored truck from MRAP competition DAVID AXE•WASHINGTON T he procurement effort surrounding the multibillion-dollar purchase of blast-resistant vehicles for the U.S. military is new, but the vehicles are anything but. “They hail back to southern African designs,” says Doug Co ey, an executive representing BAE Systems, which builds the RG-33 vehicle (see p. 46). The roughly dozen Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) models MRAPs, it’s perhaps surprising that one of the most successful African designs has been absent from the U.S. program. The absence says more about politics and industrial considerations than about the virtues of particular designs. The Wolf, a 10-ton blast-resistant truck from Namibian state-owned manufacturer WMF, has served in the Danish and Namibian armies as well as with non-military agencies, the first of several hundred enterMATS HJORTER Wer’Wolf armored truck was used by Namibian forces in Liberia in 2004. The vehicle, manufactured by WMC in Namibia, could be a contender for MRAP business except for a U.S. trade regulation. have their roots in vehicles designed in the 1970s to counter mines laid by guerillas during the Rhodesian war. That 20-year conflict in what is now Zimbabwe claimed 30,000 lives. Indeed, one of the most popular MRAP designs, the BAE Systems RG33, is closely related to the RG-31 (manufactured under license by General Dynamics Land Systems), which is itself based on the Mamba—one of the most successful mine-resistant designs of the Rhodesian war. South African company OMC, the original manufacturer of the Mamba, was bought by BAE in 2004. Considering the provenance of today’s 20 ing service in 1984. The latest model, the Wer’Wolf, debuted in 2000 and was adopted by Namibia. U.S. military officials took note of Wer’Wolf. In April 2004, two Pentagon analysts recommended buying blastresistant trucks, specifically Wer’Wolf, to counter increasingly lethal roadside bombs in Iraq, according to a recent USA Today investigation. The same report revealed that the Army Corps of Engineers requested 53 Wer’Wolfs in early 2004 to protect its people in Iraq, but got permission to buy only four. The Pentagon was clearly aware of Wer’Wolf even before the launch of the MRAP program in late 2006. But when the Marine Corps began handing out contracts for MRAP trucks in January, small manufacturers, including Protected Vehicles and Force Protection Inc., were among the winners. WMF was nowhere to be found. Why was it left out? “Simply because the U.S. Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement [DFARS] Trade Agreements Act stipulates how the U.S. may purchase foreign-made technologies and end items,” WMF founder Hannes Koegl explained in correspondence to Pentagon o cials, leaked to DTI. “The Wer’Wolf cannot be purchased under U.S. Defense Dept. acquisitions unless WMF can find a way to have it adhere to the DFARS,” Koegl continued. “WMF will have to consider partnering with a company that can adhere to the DFARS trade requirements if WMF is to compete.” The biggest hitch is the “Buy American” amendment to DFARS that requires a “certain percentage” of an MRAP to be made in the U.S., according to Pentagon representative Cheryl Irwin. Efforts to find a U.S. partner were unsuccessful. In November 2006, Force Protection o cials toured WMF’s Namibia facility, followed in February by representatives from General Dynamics. But the companies ended up partnering with each other instead of with WMF, and by then the first round of the MRAP competition was well under way. Now Koegl is searching for a U.S. partner so WMF can enter Wer’Wolf into the second round of MRAP buys slated to begin in January. The Wer’Wolf Mk. II seems to meet MRAP’s mobility and survivability requirements. The vehicle’s layout—a steel V-shaped monocoque hull—is similar to that of Force Protection’s successful Cougar design, with a couple of key di erences. As a compromise between protection, vehicle height and useful cabin volume, Cougar’s hull is flattened on the bottom. Wer’Wolf’s is sharper, improving blast-resistance at the cost of head room. The Geneva Center for Humanitarian De-mining in a 2003 report praised Wer’Wolf’s protection but criticized it for being “heavy.” Even WMF admits that the Mk. II weighs too much for its 220-hp. motor. With an eye to breaking into MRAP, the company is upgrading the basic Mk. II with a 280-hp. engine, double the electrical power, an improved suspension and better ergonomics. The resulting Wer’Wolf Mk. IV costs around $400,000, comparable to that of U.S.built MRAPs. I www.aviationweek.com/dti DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2007 http://www.aviationweek.com/dti
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