Marines to slash mine-resistant truck purchase
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Marine Corps said on Friday it would slash by nearly 40 percent the number of mine-resistant trucks it was planning to buy, sending shares of armored vehicle maker Force Protection Inc down 20 percent.
Citing security gains in Iraq and a better sense of the vehicles' limitations, the Marine corps said it will buy 2,300 so-called Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected, vehicles -- the number currently under contract -- down from previous plans for 3,700.
"I am completely comfortable with reducing our requirement for MRAPs based on input from Marine field commanders with experience employing these vehicles," Commandant Gen. James Conway said in statement.
MRAPS are a family of trucks produced by domestic and overseas manufacturers that generally feature a "V"-shaped hull and armor plating designed to protect against mines and roadside bombs known as improvised explosive devices.
Other makers include General Dynamics, Navistar International Corp and BAE Systems Plc.
Shares of Force Protection, that focuses on making protected vehicles, were hit hardest, falling 20 percent to $11.95, the biggest percentage loser in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.
The U.S. Army, which is expecting delivery of 10,000 MRAPs by the end of this fiscal year, will review its MRAP needs in coming weeks and months, said Col. Dan Baggio, an Army spokesman.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made the MRAP program his top priority, reflecting the heavy toll that roadside bombs had been taking on U.S. troops in Iraq.
Overall, the Defense Department plans to buy about 15,000 MRAPS through fiscal 2008, which ends September 30.
"We are going to continue to manufacture them as fast as we can and to deliver as fast as we can," said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman. As of Wednesday, 753 of the vehicles were in Iraq and 45 in Afghanistan, she said.
Maj. Jay Delarosa, a Marine Corps spokesman, said the MRAPS were providing effective protection from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, forcing U.S. foes to change tactics.
"IED attacks are dramatically down over the past six months," he said.
"The relatively heavy MRAP, however, cannot operate, or pursue the enemy off-road, in confined areas, or across many bridges," Delarosa added. For these conditions, the Marine Corps needs to retain more armored Humvees, for their greater mobility.
(Reporting by Jim Wolf; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
