Force Protection lands huge military contract
Ladson company to supply 280 armored vehicles to Marines for $214 million
By NOELLE PHILLIPS
nophillips@thestate.com
Ladson-based Force Protection landed its largest military contract this week when the U.S. Marine Corps bought $214 million worth of its armored vehicles.
The single order equaled what the military has spent on Force Protection products in all of 2006.
“They doubled us again,” said Michael Aldrich, vice president of marketing and government relations.
Force Protection’s future sales should grow even more in 2007, Aldrich said.
The military is seeking bids on 4,000 armored vehicles that match specifications for Force Protection’s Cougar, Aldrich said. The company will bid as the Cougar is one-of-a-kind, he said.
The Marine Corps alone has budgeted $526 million in 2007 for similar vehicles, according to a notice posted on a federal government Web site. The notice says the vehicles will be used for urban combat operations and will serve as troop transports. It also mentions Force Protection’s Cougar as a model.
Force Protection will pair with other defense contractors on the bid because its manufacturing plant in Ladson isn’t big enough.
“That requires us to team aggressively with the largest armored vehicle manufacturers in the business,” Aldrich said. “Obviously, 4,000 vehicles would force us to move beyond the walls of Ladson and find partners elsewhere.”
Force Protection has no intention of moving out of South Carolina, he said. Instead, the company hopes to team with other defense contractors who already have a presence in the state.
Force Protection’s armored vehicles are in high demand because they can withstand blasts from land mines and improvised explosive devices, which have been killing U.S. soldiers by the 100s in Iraq. Thus far, no one has been killed in a Cougar or Buffalo in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The vehicles survive blasts thanks to their V-shaped hulls and because they are too heavy to flip on impact.
“They have been proven countless times in the most demanding conditions,” said Force Protection CEO Gordon McGilton. “These vehicles represent a solution to the explosive threats our troops face.”
Under the Marine Corps contract signed this week, Force Protection will build:
• Two-hundred Cougar vehicles to be used as troop transports.
• Eighty Buffalo vehicles, used for clearing land mines and other hidden explosives.
Aldrich said the Marine Corps is moving toward using the Cougar as a patrol vehicle because it is not as vulnerable as other vehicles on duty in Iraq such as Humvees.
“The Marines have special ordered the Cougar to try to eliminate, and certainly reduce, fatalities,” he said.
Marine Corps representatives could not be reached Friday because of the federal holiday.
Force Protection has grown from a small startup with fewer than 12 employees in 2003 to a large manufacturer with more than 600 employees today.
The company hires 25 to 40 people a week to keep up with the demand, Aldrich said.
Next week, Force Protection will launch production on the Cougar Mastiff for the British military. It also has built armored vehicles for the Iraqi army.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Aldrich said. “It’s very difficult to keep up with this pace of growth. But we don’t do it alone.”
Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307.
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