Profile: Force Protection, Inc. (FRPT.O)

Force Protection, Inc. (Force Protection) is a provider of blast- and ballistic-protected products used to support armed forces and security personnel in harm's way. The Company designs, manufactures, tests, delivers and supports its blast- and ballistic-protected products. Its specialty vehicles are designed to protect their occupants from landmines, hostile fire and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It is a provider of United States military’s Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program. The Company also provides Cougar Mastiff, Cougar Ridgback, Cougar Wolfhound, and Buffalo mine-protected vehicles to the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence.

The Company offers an external ballistic protection module (EBPM) identified as Force Armor that provides additional protection from explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company provided ForceArmor kits for eight vehicles. During 2008, Force Protection delivered 2,067 vehicles under the MRAP and other blast- and ballistic-protected vehicle programs. Force Protection also offers ForceArmor as an external bolt-on solution, which provides protection against attack by EFPs.

The Buffalo

The Buffalo Mine Protected Clearance Vehicle (MPCV), with a gross vehicle weight of approximately 40 tons, is the Company’s largest vehicle and is designed primarily for use in conducting route clearance operations. The Buffalo has six wheels and is equipped with a hydraulic arm used to interrogate suspect devices while allowing the crew to disable or destroy the device from within the vehicle. The vehicle’s capsule is blast-resistant, and the bottom of its passenger compartment is V-shaped. With the Buffalo, the Company is United States Army and United States Marine Corps’ source supplier of vehicles for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), including EOD vehicles that satisfy the Category III requirements of the MRAP program and the Ground Standoff Mine Detection System (GSTAMIDS) program. In 2008, the Company delivered 81 Buffalos to the United States Marine Corps, United States Army, French, Italian and United Kingdom customers for mine clearance in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Cougar

The Cougar is a family of medium-sized, blast- and ballistic-protected vehicles that can be supplied in four wheeled and six wheeled variants, and in a range of configurations for the range of missions performed by the Company’s customers. With a gross vehicle weight that ranges from 11 tons to 26 tons, depending on the variant, the operational applications of the Cougar include troop transport, command and control, route reconnaissance, convoy escort, and casualty evacuation capabilities. The Cougar employs a V-shaped hull designed to deflect blast energy, along with a blast- and ballistic-protected steel passenger compartment. The Cougar family of vehicles offers the customers the ability to enhance the protection and payload offered to wheeled vehicle platforms, while still offering acceptable levels of performance. In addition to producing Cougars for the United States military, it manufactures several variants for United States foreign military allies, including the Canadian military, the Italian military, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense and the Iraqi National Army.

The Cougar Mastiff and Ridgback vehicles are part of the Cougar family of vehicles that are produced and delivered to the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. The Cougar Mastiff is a six wheeled vehicle with a weight of approximately 18 tons, which offers a payload of roughly seven tons. The Cougar Wolfhound TSV (TSV) is a six wheeled vehicle with a weight of approximately 21.5 tons, which offers a payload of roughly five tons. The Cougar Iraqi Light Armored Vehicle (ILAV) is a four wheeled vehicle with a curb weight of approximately 11 tons. The Cougar Independent Suspension (Cougar IS) is a four wheeled vehicle with a curb weight of approximately 15 tons.

The Cheetah

The Cheetah is a four wheeled vehicle with a curb weight of approximately eight tons, designed specifically for reconnaissance, forward command and control, and urban operations. The Cheetah provides performance levels similar to that of a light-wheeled vehicle, while providing protection levels similar to that of the Company’s heavier Cougar fleet and payload levels higher than that of the wheeled vehicle fleet available to the military.

The Company competes with BAE Systems Land & Armaments, L.P., Textron Inc., Navistar International Corporation, Oshkosh Corporation, Mantech Services (UK) Ltd., Raytheon Company, NP Aerospace and General Dynamics Land Systems Inc.