YORK, Pa., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- More than 300 Bradley Fighting Vehicles are to be upgraded and provided to U.S. Army National Guard units by BAE Systems.
The $306 million award is a contract modification from the Army's TACOM Life Cycle Management Command. The earlier award -- worth $340 million -- was for buying materials for the upgrade.
"Our Bradley Fighting Vehicle has served alongside Army soldiers, helping them to accomplish their missions for more than two decades," said Joe McCarthy, vice president and general manager of Combat Vehicles at BAE Systems.
"The Bradleys we are producing today provide the National Guard with enhanced survivability and interoperability on today's digital battlefield."
The contract modification calls on BAE Systems to modernize Operation Desert Storm M2A2, M3A2 and M7 Bradley Fire Support Team vehicles to Operation Desert Storm Situational Awareness configurations. The work will include integration of new digitized electronics for situational awareness, network connectivity and communication hardware.
Work begins this month and will be completed by 2014.
The vehicles will be given to Minnesota and Pennsylvania National Guard units and for Combined Armed Battalions to Kansas, South Carolina and Ohio National Guard units.
