Privately held Griffin Armament (Navistar International's partner for armor on military trucks) announced that the two companies had won a joint $623 million contract to build 1,200 mine-resistant ambush-protected armored vehicles (MRAP) for the Marine Corps. The contract specifies delivery of the vehicles to the Marine Corps. by February 2008. Truck chassis will be built at Navistar's Garland TX plant and then transferred to Griffin's military integration facility at West Point NY for final assembly.
According to industry analyst Bear Stearns, this order opens the door for Navistar to participate in the broader MRAP program, which including parts business could range as high as $17 billion. Although Navistar has built more than 4,000 military vehicles in the past several years, Bear Stearns believes this is the firm's first major United States military order.