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ILAV w. MCATS
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The global trend toward mine-resistant vehicles has become unmistakable. The 101st Airborne’s RG-31s and Australian Bushmasters were the first examples in Iraq, followed by the M1117 ASVs for military police and Cougar and Buffalo vehicles among US Marines et. al. Britain has the ‘Mastiff’ Cougar variant. And the Iraqis? While up-armored Hummers are a big upgrade over the Ford commercial pickups some units were using, they knew that they, too, needed a mine-resistant vehicle that could perform patrols in urban areas and along their country’s roads.

Their choice featured a familiar vehicle base – but an unfamiliar partnership. While the design is based on Force Protection Inc’s v-hulled Cougar that has earned such praise from US Marine Corps and Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams in Iraq, the prime contractor is competitor BAE Systems. The original contract and associated work began at the end of May 2006, and its total value could reach $445.4 million and 1,050 vehicles if all options are exercised. The first ILAVs, aka. ‘Badgers’ were delivered to Iraq 90 days after contract award, i.e. by the end of August 2006.

So why bid a Cougar variant, instead of existing BAE products? And what’s the status of production orders so far to Iraq and… Yemen?

BAE’s Decision

RG-33L w. arm
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After all, BAE’s vast array of products include the M2/M3 Bradley, the M113 APC family, the highly-regarded v-hulled RG-31 Nyala 4×4s that are also in battlefield use by American and Canadian troops, and larger v-hulled Casspir personnel carriers that have a long history of effective use in mined war zones.

DID spoke with a BAE executive, whose simple response was that they looked at the Iraqis’ stated requirements, looked at what was available on the market, decided that this option would be the best offering (the RG-33 hadn’t yet been introduced), and put the consortium together.

This has not stopped BAE from making competitive moves of its own toward the Cougar/Buffalo’s market niche, however, just as Force Protection is making moves toward the smaller mine-resistant vehicle niche of BAE OMC’s RG-31/32 offerings. See below for further details.

Contracts & Key Events:

ILAV, loading for delivery
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BAE Systems Land and Armaments is the prime contractor for the ILAV, with subcontractors Force Protection Inc. in Ladson, SC, and Spartan Chassis, Inc. in Charlotte, MI. This consortium will also have the happy result of expanding the manufacturing capacity for Cougar-type vehicles; BAE Systems personnel told DID that work would be going on at Spartan Chassis in Michigan and BAE’s manufacturing plants in Anniston, AL and York, PA, as well as Force Protection’s South Carolina facilities; note, for instance, the work split in the original May 31, 2006 order.

All contracts are issued by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI.

Oct 8/07: Force Protection, Inc. announces a purchase order from BAE Systems for an additional 45 Iraq Light Armored Vehicles (ILAV): 27 for Iraq (new total: 425), and 18 for Yemen. The order is worth an estimated $3.5 million, and will be completed by February 2008. The firm also clarifies the ILAV’s current production status:

Sept 25/07: Iraq issues an official request for 55 more ILAV ‘Badger’ vehicles, and part of a larger $2.257 billion shopping list. See “$2.257B for Iraqi Army Guns, Vehicles & Logistics” for full coverage.

Aug 2/07: Force Protection, Inc. announces that it has received work totaling $5.3 million to produce more than 40 articulating interrogation arms for the Iraqi Light Armored Vehicle (ILAV) program, plus a total of 22 additional new vehicles. The items will be produced at the Ladson, SC facility, and deliveries are scheduled for December 2007.

Used to detect and remove suspected explosive threats, the articulated arm will be integrated into existing ILAV vehicles produced by BAE Land & Armament Systems as prime contractor and Force Protection as subcontractor. ILAV orders now stand at 418 vehicles, out of 1,050 if all options are exercised.

March 5/07: An MNF-I press briefing by Brig. Gen. Terry Wolff, commander of the Military Assistant Training Team, offers some context re: the niche Iraq’s Badger ILAVs will occupy:

“The Iraqis have about 2,400 humvees—between 2,2(00) and 2,400 humvees on site now. They’ll go 2,700 humvees as part of finishing the build of those 10 divisions. And they’re buying 343 additionally on their own, and there will be about 400 more that are bought as part of the prime minister’s initiative. And so, I mean, that will—when all is said and done, you’ll be talking about 3,200 humvees, all up-armored, which is a good-news story.

Image Part of that buy will also include some engineer platoons, which will have a thing called the Cougar in it…. So there’s a Cougar or a Badger. It’s called both things. And again, there have been about 398 of these purchased. They’re flowing in now. The Iraqis are starting to get trained on them. Kind of a big, tall-looking vehicle, as you can tell. Seats eight—got eight crewmen in the back of it or eight soldiers can easily ride in the back. It’s got real thick windows. It gives you a pretty phenomenal protection or very good protection against IEDs. You can see it’s got kind of a unique V-shaped hull to it, kind of based on a South African design, lessons learned from the fight the South Africans had down—with a lot of mines and against the Rhodesians years and years ago…. So anyhow, 398 have been bought. They’re starting to arrive. We’re training—we have a training team up at Taji, where we’re training soldiers—Iraqi soldiers on this. And then the first groups of these will be deployed down to the 6th Division here in Baghdad, starting in a couple of weeks…. So anyhow, a large number of those things will go to the 6th Division, and then there will be some additional Cougars, Badgers that will be deployed to three additional—three other divisions.”

Oct 23/06: BAE Systems announces that it has received a $7.8 million Foreign Military Sales contract modification to manufacture 20 additional Iraqi Light Armored Vehicles. The contract modification follows an initial order for 378 vehicles issued in May 2006, and represents another step on the road to 1,050 potential vehicles if all options are exercised. BAE’s release notes that work on the contract is ongoing with deliveries scheduled to continue through May 2007. The first ILAVs were delivered to Iraq 90 days after contract award, i.e. by the end of August 2006.

Sept 19/06: Iraq issues an official request for 600 ILAVs as part of a larger $500 million shopping list. See “Up to $750M in Weapons & Support for Iraq” for full coverage.

Aug 15/06: UK Land Forces Order 86 ‘Mastiff PPV’ Cougar Vehicles. The Mastiff is another Cougar variant, and will be employed in Iraq and Afghanistan. DID’s article also adds relevant background concerning Force Protection’s efforts & plans to increase production capacity.

May 31/06: The original ILAV order. BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP in York, PA received a delivery order amount of $180.5 million as part of a $445.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for Iraqi Light Armored Vehicles. This order covers 378 ILAVs.

Work will be performed in Anniston, AL (50%), and Ladson, SC (50%), and is expected to be complete by May 2007, or by November 30, 2009 if all options are exercised. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on May 5, 2006, and 16 bids were received (W56HZV-06-D-VB01).

Additional Readings

• MNF-I via Blackanthem Military News (April 9/07) – Badgers headed for Baghdad

DID Analysis/ Op-Ed

Cougar-H & EOD Team
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We’d also like to note two other points of interest:

One is the new Marine Corps Armored Turret System sitting on the BAE photo release of the new ILAV. Good thinking.

The second item is the fact that unlike the RG-31 or Casspir, the Cougar is built in the USA and has just expanded its manufacturing capacity there. While it’s a bit early to float merger & acquisition rumors, and the BAE executives we talked to didn’t even hint in that direction, BAE Systems is quite open about its desire to be a major trans-Atlantic competitor in all areas of its business. The Airbus sale will give them over $1 billion in cash, and Force Protection vehicles like the Cougar and Buffalo are proving quite popular in the USA and gathering an enviable combat reputation.

With the ILAV order, the Cougar takes an important step forward, moving beyond an EOD specialty vehicle and into the growing niche for mine-protected patrol vehicles. Working with Force Protection to produce these vehicles gives plenty of time for due diligence and corporate culture compatibility checks, and adding the Cougar and Buffalo to its stable would give it a formidable set of options for international competitions against Krauss-Maffei’s Dingo, Iveco’s MLV/Panther, and ADI’s Bushmaster IMV. Not to mention a US option that none of the others could match, as the US military considers what vehicle or vehicle mix should follow the Hummer.

This contract will be worth watching, for a number of reasons.

Analysis Updates:

• The field is getting more crowded. In early October 2006, BAE moved to introduce the RG-33L as a Cougar/Buffalo competitor, while Force Protection introduced the 4×4 Cheetah as a smaller vehicle that competes with BAE OMC’s RG-31/RG-32. Meanwhile Protected Vehicles, Inc. in North Charleston, SC has introduced their PVI-Alpha, which uses similar design approaches and adds a unique resin armor developed with Battelle. Its founder Garth Barrett headed a firm that was acquired by Force Protection.

• Force Protection (Sept 29/06) – Force Protection Extends Agreement with South African Technology Partner. That partner, Mechem, is a division of South Africa’s Denel Pty Ltd. The new agreement extends to September 2011.

• 10Q Detective (Aug 26/06) – Force Protection—Explosive Turnaround Story. In 2001, Force Protection looked like it might go out of business. Things have changed. An interesting business/stock analysis of Force Protection, Inc., which sees them as a potential takeover target. DID adds that we don’t do stock recommendations, that this is one source of information among many whose reliability you must evaluate entirely on your own, and that if you buy stocks that’s 100% your decision and your risk.

(Originally posted June 8, 2006)