Big Orders for New MRAP Design

Navistar wins big with innovative MRAP vehicle design

Printed headline: Home Run

Three months after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared blast-resistant trucks for Iraq and Afghanistan his top weapons-buying priority, trends are emerging in the expanding Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) program. Several of the roughly dozen companies vying for orders have been rejected by the Marine Corps, which manages the $8-billion program.

Other manufacturers have firmed up their leads in the competition with large orders reflecting positive results from rigorous testing. Meanwhile, questions about maintenance and logistics continue to dog the program.

Force Protection Inc. (with its Cougar and Buffalo designs) and BAE Systems (with the RG-31) have grabbed around half of the approximately 8,000 orders for MRAPs. Major armored-vehicle builder General Dynamics Land Systems, after a months-long dry spell, finally scored an order for 600 of its own RG-31 variant in August. Newcomers that tried to shove their way into the market have been less fortunate. Despite rumors to the contrary, Oshkosh hasn't sold any of its licensed Bushmaster trucks to the U.S. military, even though the design enjoys favor with Dutch and Australian forces. Oshkosh's Alpha design, moreover, fared poorly in tests and appears likely to drop out of contention.

But one outsider has emerged as a Pentagon favorite. Navistar International Corp.