Force Protection finalizing new deal

Ladson-based Force Protection Inc. is finalizing a nine-figure deal to upgrade the suspension systems on as many as 1,500 combat vehicles being redeployed from Iraq to even rougher terrain.

The company said Thursday a modified federal contract calls for it to install new independent suspension kits on Cougar armored trucks that have been sold to the armed forces through the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command.

The parts are being supplied by Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Corp., which estimated the value of its order at $122 million.

The amount has not been finalized, but the total of cost of upgrades cannot exceed $158 million, Force Protection said.

The work will be done in the field, said company spokesman Tommy Pruitt.

“The theater is transitioning from Iraq to Afghanistan,” Pruitt said. “This will increase the mobility of the vehicles that are going to be supplied with these parts.”

President Barack Obama has ordered 21,000 troops into Afghanistan since taking office Jan. 20, including 17,000 combat personnel. That puts the U.S. total at an estimated record high of more than 60,000.

Force Protection said the Cougar upgrades are needed because the physical landscape in Afghanistan is far more rugged than in Iraq, where many of its armored mine-resistant vehicles have been dispatched in recent years.

Pruitt said the Oshkosh suspension kits are designed to decrease the turning radius of the Cougar and increase maneuverability.

“The type of terrain you can traverse is increased, so you can go offroad and into environments where there are no roads,” he said.

Work is expected to be completed by December.

The order capped a busy week for Force Protection, which also announced a $122.6 million order for 97 vehicles from the U.K. Ministry of Defence and sales of three Cougars for $1.3 million to the Hungarian Ministry of Defence.

Shares of Force Protection surged 16 percent Thursday, closing up 96 cents at $6.96.