Ocelot armored vehicle being showcased

LEAMINGTON SPA, England, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Force Protection Europe is putting its Ocelot armored vehicle on display next week at the International Armored Vehicles exhibition in London.

The company, a British subsidiary of Force Protection Inc. of South Carolina, said its appearance at the exposition follows an order in November from Britain's Ministry of Defense for 200 of the vehicles.

"Our prime goal for this year is to meet the MoD's schedule for the LPPV program," said David Hind, managing director, Force Protection Europe.

"However, Ocelot's success has also generated international interest in this ground breaking vehicle, which we hope to see being developed for other markets; the first of these is Australia as we prepare to send two Ocelots -- a utility and a command variant -- Down Under for testing in the Land 121 Phase 4 Project for the Protected Mobility Vehicle--Light prototype."

The first batch of vehicles, which will be known as Foxhound by the British army, will be delivered to the army's training fleet this year with the final vehicles scheduled to be completed by spring 2012.

The Ocelot was built by Force Protection and partners automotive specialist Ricardo plc, Thales, QinetiQ, Formaplex, DSG and Sula.

Unlike mine-protected vehicles based on existing commercial chassis, Ocelot is based on modular flexibility. It features an integrated V-hull, blast protection technology with a demountable protected crew pod that allows multiple configurations for different roles.