Navistar Defense has been awarded a contract by the US Marine Corps (USMC) System Command to supply 650 independent suspension kits for International MaxxPro Plus Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
Under the $110m contract, the company will integrate DXM independent suspension kits onboard MaxxPro vehicles to enhance theirmobility and survivability.
Navistar Defense president Archie Massicotte said: "Our ability to jointly create and rapidly integrate new components, sub-assemblies and rolling chassis off commercially-based platforms creates value for the military acquisition community."
The MaxxPro Plus MRAP armoured fighting vehicle is designed to withstand improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, ambushes, ballistic arms fire and mine blasts as well as survive in nuclear, biological and chemical environments. Launched in 2008, the vehicle’s V-shaped hull assists in deflecting blasts out and away from the crew and its armouring can be customised to meet any mission requirement. The vehicle also offers increased payload and power as well as Frag Kit 6 enhancements for improved explosively-formed penetrator protection.
The MaxxPro recovery vehicle is based on the International WorkStar platform and also provides protection for a two to three-man crew retrieving damaged or mission-disabled vehicles.
The new contract follows the previous one awarded to Navistar by the USMC earlier this month for the upgrade of 2,717 International MaxxPro MRAP vehicles. Work on the contract will commence in August 2012 at the MRAP Sustainment Facility in Kuwait and is scheduled for completion by the end of October 2012. The MaxxPro Plus units are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
