STEWART & STEVENSON WINS MRAP CONTRACT
12 Jul 07. Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems, LP, a division of Armor Holdings, Inc., is being awarded $518,543,584 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0002 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-07-D-5030) for the purchase of 1,154 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Category I vehicles, and 16 MRAP Category II vehicles. Work will be performed in Sealy, Texas, and work is expected to be completed February 2008.Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Comment: When BAE Systems bid $2bn for Armor Holdings the company reckoned that there was $4bn worth of MRAP business up for grabs, with this award and the previous one announce, the strategy, like that with UDLP appears to be paying off, in the short to medium term. (See: BATTLESPACE UPDATE Vol.9 ISSUE 26, 29 June 2007, BAE Systems Land & Armaments contract). 28 Jun 07. BAE Systems Land & Armaments, LP. Ground Systems Division, York, Pa., is being awarded $212,423,188 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0003 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5025) for the purchase of 271 Mine Resistant and Ambush Protected (MRAP) Category (CAT) I vehicles, 16 MRAP CAT II Ambulances Variant, and 154 MRAP CAT I U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Variant, and Sustainment Integrated Logistics Support (ILS). The Sustainment ILS will consist of 90 day consumables, forward deployment blocks, maintenance workshop blocks, field service representatives, and operator and maintenance training. Work will be performed in York, Pa., and is expected to be completed by July 2008. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
When the eventual withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan begins in 2008, like the withdrawal from Northern Ireland, which caused the demise of a number of specialist armouring companies in the UK, there will be a distinct downturn in armouring business which, coupled to a possible rebid for FMTV, which, with its wafer thin margins and the aspirations of International and Oshkosh, may be a management task which will require possible downsizing in some areas of the BAE Land Systems empire. The recent Forecast International Land Vehicle Report from (See: BATTLESPACE UPDATE Vol.9 ISSUE 28, 13 July 2007, The international market for light tracked vehicles)is bullish for the prospects of the Bradley vehicle but not for other projects, particularly FCS.
The international market for light tracked vehicles remains a highly competitive and dynamic environment. In its annual analysis “The Market for Light Tracked Vehicles,” the Forecast International Weapons Group projects that the market will produce over 13,600 light tracked vehicles, worth nearly $28.308bn, through 2016. Dean Lockwood, a weapons systems analyst at Forecast International, notes that new production of the top two high-end vehicles – the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) and the Igel/Puma – will account for only 9.34 percent of all production during the forecast period. Yet, he estimates these two programs will provide 62.45 percent of the total value of the light tracked vehicle market through 2016. “For most nations, the expense associated with the modernization and retrofit of high-end light tracked vehicles pales in comparison with the prospect of new procurement,” Lockwood said.
Through FY13, the U.S. Army intends to spend over $5.89 billion on M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle upgrades. This level of armor system modernization (ASM) spending clearly indicates a long-term investment in the U.S. Army’s M2/M3 Bradley fleet, well beyond the anticipated fielding of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) family of manned grou