Article Posted on : - Jun 03, 2010

M-1117 armoured security vehicle of the US Army.

NEW ORLEANS (BNS): Textron Marine & Land Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, has been selected, under the U.S. Army Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process, to build 80 armoured military vehicles for the Iraqi Ministry of Interior for use by the Iraqi Federal Police.

The total value of the procurement is approximately $94 million.

Of the 80 vehicles, 72 will be configured as Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), while the remaining eight will be in the standard US Army M1117 Armoured Security Vehicle (ASV) configuration employed as Command and Control vehicles.

The vehicles to be delivered under this contract will be equipped with the Textron Marine & Land Systems 40/50 turret armed with an MK-19 40mm grenade launcher and .50 caliber machine gun, according to a news release by the Textron.

“These vehicles will be a great addition to the significant number of Textron Marine & Land Systems armoured vehicles already in use by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. The ASV has demonstrated its outstanding combat effectiveness in meeting expanding roles and missions in Iraq, while proving to be safe and reliable,” said Textron Marine & Land Systems General Manager Tom Walmsley, as quoted in the release.

A total of 184 vehicles (122 ASV and 62 APC) built by Textron Marine & Land Systems have already been delivered to Iraq under previous procurements.

The ASV is a 4X4 wheeled armoured vehicle which offers significant crew protection through the employment of multiple layers of armour, defending against small arms fire, artillery projectile fragments, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and land mines.

Textron Marine & Land Systems has designed and produced more than 2,600 ASV and APC vehicles for the US Army, Iraq, Colombia and Bulgaria.