i'M GLAD TO SEE SOMETHING IS EXPANDING IN sc MAKING NEW JOBS.
Posted on Sun, Jun. 04, 2006
Three years on, hundreds make mine-protected vehicles
BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press
LADSON, S.C. - Almost three years ago, about a dozen people working in a largely empty factory turned out one of a new breed of armored vehicle called the Cougar each month.
Now, Force Protection Industries Inc. employs 385 over three buildings and each day they build one of the large mine-resistant vehicles that are preserving the lives of soldiers and Marines in Iraq.
And there will be more workers lining up on the assembly floor soon.
BAE Systems Land & Armaments Operating Group has been awarded a $445 million contract to build light armored vehicles for the Iraqi Army, the Defense Department announced last week.
Force Protection is a subcontractor on the contract, which initially calls for 378 Cougars at $180 million, said Michael Aldrich, vice president of sales. Eventually, as many as 1,050 could be built.
"The bad guys don't like these vehicles," Aldrich said. "We are coming up on three years, and we have not had close to a fatality. The worst we have had is a broken wrist."
The Cougar and its cousin the Buffalo, which is about twice its size, have V-shaped hulls designed to help deflect the blasts of land mines and roadside bombs.
Most combat deaths in Iraq are caused by roadside bombs, which the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
A 4-by-4 Cougar weighs about 12 tons and is equipped with tires that will run even when flat. It can resist the force of the equivalent of 30 pounds of TNT under any wheel and 15 pounds of TNT exploding beneath its hull, according to its specifications.
"They are highly effective vehicles for what they are designed to do," said Capt. Jeff Landis, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Systems Command, who said the vehicles are generally used for escort and mine clearing.
There are more than 130 Cougars and Buffalos in Afghanistan and Iraq. The vehicles have taken about 1,000 IED hits without a loss of life, said Wayne Phillips, a company vice president in charge of Marine Corps programs.
When America went to war in Iraq, "I don't think the IEDs were a surprise. I think the extent and sophistication of them were. I'm speaking as a civilian instead of a (retired) Marine colonel, but we probably did underestimate it," he said.
"The Cougar has opened the door for other possibilities," Landis said. "Here you have a completely armored vehicle that serves a great purpose and need in Iraq. It has provided a way ahead for us to look at other possibilities for a utility vehicle."
Those possibilities include vehicles to move cargo and troops, he said.
Force Protection is working on a prototype, dubbed the Mover, for a planned replacement of the Humvees used by the military.
The government will put out a request for proposals in November with production expected to start in 2008, said Phillips, who estimated there are about 15,000 Humvees now in service.
Spartan Chassis Inc. of Michigan builds the chassis for the Cougars. The armor is installed at the factory in Ladson, about 17 miles north of Charleston.
But building a mine-resistant vehicle is about more than putting steel armor on a frame.
When a mine or IED explodes, a vehicle accelerates straight up or to the side, said Greg Gordon, a Force Protection engineer.
"If it's too high - especially in really light vehicles like unarmored Humvees - that acceleration can be enough to kill you. It breaks your neck or tears your heart away from all the veins in your chest," he said.
The design of Cougars, including the seats and the floor, help counter the effects of such acceleration, he said.
Force Protection has received a number of e-mail testimonials from troops in the field.
One, from Sgt. Chris Clair with a Marine explosive ordinance disposal team, described how a tire on a Cougar ran over mines placed in a hole in the pavement filled with water after a rain.
"Right after the explosion, the Cougar was driven for two miles on the three remaining tires at speeds in excess of 20 mph so that we could make it to a safe area," wrote Clair, who gave his location only as somewhere in Iraq.
He said the three Marines had slight concussions, but "if we had been in another type of vehicle ... the outcome would have been much worse."
Force Protection achieved profitability in the first quarter of this year, recording a gross profit of $6.6 million on sales of almost $35 million and a net profit of $114,000, the result of a sharp increase in demand for the armored vehicles, the company said.
Roy Driggers, a former truck driver, has been with Force Protection almost from the start.
He first built the Buffalos then the Cougars and now works in quality control, testing the trucks, including a 50-mile run at highway speeds, before they are turned over to the military.
He likes building vehicles that save lives.
"You know where this is going and what it is for," Driggers said, adding he has six cousins and nephews serving in Iraq. "They may have a chance to ride in one of these."
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On the Net:
http://www.forceprotectioninc.com
