Ladson company under contract to build armored vehicles for Iraq

Force Protection Inc. of Ladson and defense contractor BAE Systems Inc. are under contract to manufacture more than 1,000 armored vehicles for the Iraqi Army.

The U.S. Department of Defense and company officials announced the $445 million contract Wednesday.

Force Protection will hire more workers in order to fill the contract. The company, which had only 11 employees three years ago, currently employs 285 people.

Michael Aldrich, Force Protection’s vice president of sales, said he did not know exactly how many jobs the new contract would create.

Under the contract, the company will fill an initial order for 395 of its armored Cougars at a cost of $180 million.

The company currently produces about one Cougar per day.

Aldrich said there could be additional hiring at the BAE Systems fabrication plant in Aiken.

BAE Systems spokesman John Measell said the company was not ready to comment on the contract, but confirmed that a contract was pending.

The Defense Department’s announcement indicated that half the work would be done in Ladson and half at a BAE Systems plant in Anniston, Ala. There were 16 bids on the contract.

Spartan Chassis Inc. of Michigan builds chassis for the Cougars. The armored vehicles, built to deflect the force of mine blasts, will come back through Charleston for final paint and shipment, either through the Port of Charleston or Charleston Air Force Base, Aldrich said.