$18.6M for More Buffalo Mine Clearance Vehicles

Buffalo. Soldier.(click to view full) Small business qualifier Force Protection Industries Inc. in Ladson, SC received an $18.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for Buffalo Mine Protected Clearance Vehicles. Work will be performed in Ladson, S.C., and is expected to be complete by Feb. 28, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on Jan. 27, 2006. The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-06-C-0245). The Buffalo is related to the Cougar family of V-hulled protected trucks, and incorporates a frontal blades/shovel attachment for dealing with IED land mines. It has seen service with a number of specialty units in-theater, as noted in David Axe’s recent coverage of the North Dakota National Guard’s 164th Engineer Regiment in Iraq. Also known as “The Claw” to some of the local Islamist paramilitary death-squads, it is heavily armored and has an outstanding safety record – but not a perfect one, and the reason why not is a truly classic story… Noah Shachtman of DefenseTech, who was in Iraq, reports: “I talked to several soldiers who had Buffalo-riding buddies injured by the handmade bombs — and by their own thick skulls. These guys would dig up an explosive with the Buffalo’s spindly claw. […]