Privately held Griffin Armament, Navistar’s joint venture partner for armor on military trucks, announced today that the two companies had won a joint $623 million contract to build 1200 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. The truck chassis will be built at Navistar’s Garland, Texas, plant and then transferred to Griffin’s military integration facility in West Point for final assembly.
“In our view, this order opens the door for Navistar to participate in the broader MRAP program, which including parts business could potentially range as high as $17 billion,” Bear Stearns said in a release. “Although Navistar has built over 4,000 military vehicles over the last several years, we believe this is the company’s first major U.S. military order. All considered, we view it as a significant corporate milestone for Navistar.”