Navistar ready for MRAP ramp-up

WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- Opening a new assembly plant for mine-proof vehicles paid off for Navistar International this week in the form of a huge contract from the U.S. Marines.

Navistar said Thursday it received a pact worth $623 million for 1,200 MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles that will be built largely at a new 200,000 square-foot facility that opened last year in Mississippi.

Navistar's International Military and Government subsidiary has developed a turbocharged diesel MRAP vehicle built on a heavy-duty truck chassis and with the V-shaped undercarriage that deflects blast force outward.

"A U.S. military vehicle order of this magnitude re-establishes Navistar as a prime supplier of tactical wheeled vehicles under the International brand," said Navistar CEO Daniel Ustian. "Our employees at U.S. plants nationwide will take pride in providing these military vehicles to help protect our forces overseas."

Building the capacity to ramp up production MRAP has been a major priority of U.S. industry as the Pentagon looks to deploy a vehicle that can better withstand the mines and roadside bombs that have vexed the standard Humvees.

Navistar said in a statement that the order announced Thursday would be filled by February 2008. The company added that the Pentagon's overall program was projected at around 7,700 vehicles valued at more than $8 billion.

International Military has been building military trucks since World War I and currently turns out about 158,000 commercial trucks per year. The company contended its new and existing assembly facilities gave the ability to increase production while enjoying economies of scale.