LISLE, Ill., March 19 (UPI) -- Installation of new chassis on more than 2,000 U.S. Army MaxxPro MRAPs is to be conducted by Navistar Defense LLC.
Navistar, which has headquarters in Illinois, said the installation work follows its order from the U.S. Army Contracting Command for chassis upgrades for 2,717 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.
The installation order is worth $21 million.
"We are focused on increasing the capabilities of our existing fleet with minimal impact to defense funding," said Navistar Defense President Archie Massicotte. "The vehicle reset line we established for this installation work can also be utilized to restore older vehicles to like-new condition. Therefore, we are poised and ready to reset vehicles returning from deployment -- either here at our facility or overseas."
Under the contract Navistar will retrofit MaxxPro vehicles with a new rolling chassis, DXM independent suspension, a MaxxForce 9.3 engine, 570 amp alternator and driveline.
Work will be conducted at a company facility in Mississippi and completed by the end May.
"Keeping constricting budgets in mind, we continue to anticipate tomorrow's needs and develop new solutions to use existing assets," Massicotte said. "In addition to being ready for reset work, we already have options available that reuse the leftover chassis from this body-swap."
Navistar said it can add armored cabs to the old chassis or can add a standard cab for their use as part of a commercial vehicle fleet.
