Textron Marine & Land Systems to build armored vehicles for Afghanistan National Army

Textron Marine & Land Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company, today announced it has been awarded an Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., to produce up to 440 Medium Armored Security Vehicles (MASV) for the Afghanistan National Army (ANA). MASVs include nine armored vehicle configurations designed specifically for ANA roles and missions, and are derived from the combat-proven M1117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV) and ASV Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). In addition to ASV and APC configurations, other mission variants include: command and control, ambulance, engineering, maintenance, mortar, and reconnaissance vehicles. The vehicles will be contracted through the U.S. Army Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process; however, this effort is being funded through Afghan Security Forces Funds (ASFF). The one-year baseline contract, with a potential value of $257 million, authorizes initial funding of $125.9 million to begin work leading to the planned delivery of 240 MASVs and associated support equipment, spare parts, field service representatives, training and training aids. Vehicle production will be performed at Textron Marine & Land Systems’ facilities in the New Orleans area, with an estimated completion date of June 2012. The contract includes options to produce up to an additional 200 vehicles, plus two option years for training and logistics support, with a potential value of $286 million. While these additional vehicles, if ordered, would have an estimated completion date of December 2012, training and logistics support would continue through the first quarter of 2014. “The ASV continues to play a key role in the U.S. Army combat vehicle fleet around the world with its outstanding readiness rate and versatile mission roles,” said Lt. Col. Mark Morano, product manager, Armored Security Vehicle, U. S. Army Program Executive Office, Combat Support and Combat Service Support. “The protection levels and extreme mobility offer the warfighter and commander a great degree of confidence in safety and mission success”.