Force Protection signs Ocelot deal with British military

Ladson-based Force Protection Inc. has signed a deal with the British military that takes the armored-vehicle maker to new prominence in international combat.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence signed a contract valued at about $280 million with Force Protection late Monday to order 200 of the company’s newly-developed lightweight Ocelots. British forces will use the vehicle in Afghanistan, replacing trucks built atop Land Rover frames, beginning in about a year.

It marks the first Ocelot sales for the company, providing it with an opportunity to develop a track record for the vehicle that it can show other potential buyers.

As part of the deal, Force Protection agreed to build the trucks in the U.K., marking the first order the company will complete outside of the United States. Deliveries should begin in the second half of next year and run through spring of 2012.

The 16,500-pound Ocelot, weighing a fraction of Force Protection’s better-known Buffalo, delivers better mobility through narrow passages, over bridges and in urban settings, according to company spokesman Tommy Pruitt.

“The weight is significantly less, the mobility significantly greater, but protection is essentially the same as what they have in these larger vehicles,” Pruitt said.

The Ocelot underwent a year of extensive testing at a blast site in Edgefield, England, with British military representatives looking on, according to Pruitt.

Force Protection officials have said that a detonation can launch a Ford F-250 truck 300 feet into the air, while the Ocelot lifts less than a foot off the ground.

While Monday’s deal holds significance for Force Protection, the Ocelot also marks the first British military vehicle that meets the Ministry of Defence’s new requirements to create a standard electronic and electrical architecture in vehicles.

The Ocelot also includes a pod constructed completely from composite to protect that crew of as many as six troops, a design inspired by the motorsports industry and the first of its kind built in Britain.

Force Protection beat out about two dozen competitors to win the contract, according to Pruitt. The Ministry of Defence named the local company its preferred bidder in September.

Next up, Force Protection hopes to secure a similar deal in Australia that could call for 1,300 Ocelots. Pruitt said company officials traveled to the continent a few weeks ago as part of an ongoing discussion, and that Force Protection plans to deliver two test vehicles there in February.