Army orders 12,000 turret rotation units

CINCINNATI, April 16 (UPI) -- BAE Systems has won an additional $71.1 million U.S. Army order for armored turret rotating units.

The Army has decided to buy more than 12,000 Battery Powered Motorized Traversing Units for its Objective Gunner's Protection Kit, BAE Systems said in a statement last week.

The BPMTU mechanism is necessary to turn around an armored turret. It is installed on High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, especially models M1114 and M1151, and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, BAE Systems said.

"The BPMTU demonstrates BAE Systems' ability to create innovative products for our Soldiers and Marines. Receipt of this contract supports our promise to exceed customer expectations and to deliver high quality products they can trust," said Tony Russell, vice president of Vehicle Armor Programs for BAE Systems.

The new BPMTUs will be manufactured in Cincinnati. BAE said it anticipated finishing the job by the end of December. The project will be run by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command.

BAE Systems said it has a staff of more than 1,600 in Cincinnati with around 1 million square feet of manufacturing and office space there.

The new order reflects the continuing need of the U.S. Army for new equipment to supplement and replace equipment it is continuing to use on a large scale in its counterinsurgency operations in Iraq.