1 British, 2 U.S. Firms To Supply U.K. Vehicles

1 British, 2 U.S. Firms To Supply U.K. Vehicles (NSI News Source Info) LONDON - November 19, 2008: U.S. manufacturers have been named preferred bidders to supply two armored support truck vehicle types destined for British forces in Afghanistan while a local British company was named as the winner to supply a third vehicle type. The flatbed version of the Force Protection six-wheel-drive Cougar mine-protected vehicle, known the Wolfhound, will meet the requirement for a mine-protected truck with a cargo capability in excess of 4.5 tons. (Force Protection Industries) The British are buying more than 400 tactical support vehicles in three vehicle types as part of a 350 million pound ($524.9 million) procurement effort to better protect troops and others against Taliban insurgents in the south of Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence announced Nov. 19 that subject to contract negotiations, Force Protection will supply a flatbed version of its six-wheel-drive Cougar mine-protected vehicle to meet the requirement for a mine-protected truck with a cargo capability in excess of 4.5 tons, known here as the Wolfhound. Local company NP Aerospace will undertake the integration work. The company is currently upgrading basic Cougar six- and four-wheel-drive vehicles to meet British requirements for patrol vehicles. The British already have several hundred Force Protection vehicles in service or on order. Navistar Defense will secure its first deal with the U.K. military supplying its International MXT-MVA vehicle. Cargo capability will be in excess of 1.5 tons. The vehicle, to be called the Husky, will form the bulk of the procurement and feature utility, ambulance and command post variants. Local company Supacat will supply a version of its high-mobility Jackal vehicle for what the British call the Coyote. The six-wheel-drive vehicle will also be able to carry more than 1.5 tons of cargo and a four-man crew. The Husky and Coyote carry similar loads, but the MXT-MVA vehicle is more heavily armored. The vehicle will operate where the heavyweight Wolfhound cannot be used. Two hundred of the new Jackal vehicles are either in service with British forces or on order. Contract negotiations are scheduled to be completed in early 2009 with the first deliveries taking place later in the year. The Husky and Coyote bidders were recently short-listed for a larger, longer-term British tactical support vehicle program known as the Operational Utility Vehicle System. The tactical support vehicle program is part of a 700 million pound urgent operational requirement for some 700 vehicles announced in late October by the MoD. Included in the requirement were upgrades to Panther liaison and command vehicles, Snatch Land Rover vehicles, and a new all-terrain vehicle to replace up to 100 tracked Vikings used by the Royal Marines and other British military units.