Oshkosh awarded $159.1M for FMTV variant for Israel

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Oshkosh Defense was awarded a $159.1 million Foreign Military Sales contract to build tactical vehicles for Israel, the Defense Department said.

The Pentagon, which announced the contract on Friday, did not specify which of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles the Wisconsin-based company would supply, or their number, aside from specifying it includes modifications for Israel.

Oshkosh manufactures FMTVs in five variants, and the company said that it would produce "a modified variant" for Israel with the contract covering production of the vehicles, as well as initial parts provisioning and training support.

Work is expected to be completed by October 2024.

The Israel Defense Force purchased six Oshkosh FMTV vehicles in 2017. In March 2009 it announced plans to obtain Oshkosh-built Panter armored vehicles, which are based on the company's FMTV platform, to replace the army's aging fleet of Israeli-built Zeev and Safaron vehicles.

The six-wheeled Oshkosh FMTV vehicles include crew-protecting armor and are used for troop and supply movement, recovery of vehicles and weapons systems and general hauling.

The variants include a five-ton tractor, a 10-ton dump truck, a five-ton wrecker, a four- or six-wheel drive cargo hauler and an 8.8-ton "load hauler" with crane.