From Danger Room:
By Nathan Hodge |  July 1, 2009  |  12:02 pm

The U.S. Marine Corps has made it official: Oshkosh Corporation will build a new blast-proof truck for service in Afghanistan. The company beat out several competitors to win a $1.06 billion contract to build the all-terrain trucks, which go by the cumbersome name Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle, or M-ATV for short. The initial order provides for 2,244 M-ATVs.

Roadside bombs remain a major threat in Afghanistan, but the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles first fielded in Iraq often proved too heavy for Afghanistan’s primitive roads and mountainous terrain. The military wanted a lighter, more nimble truck that would still provide serious protection for troops.

So what will this new vehicle look like? The company submitted a design that was built around the chassis of the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement, a seven-ton truck that has already seen service in Afghanistan. Last year, I traveled around parts of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province on Marine Corps MTVRs; the hulking trucks proved surprisingly capable of off-road driving.

Now the company has to deliver on the contract — and fast. According to a Department of Defense news release, Oshkosh is eventually expected to produce up to 1,000 vehicles a month; the first M-ATVs are supposed to be fielded by the end of this year. All told, the Pentagon may procure up to 5,244 M-ATVs, as funding becomes available.

[PHOTO: Oshkosh]

See Also:

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• MRAP Report Sparks Investigation, Halts Whisteblower’s Work …