By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

Force Protection Inc., the Ladson-based armored-vehicle manufacturer, has been awarded a $376.6 million contract to produce 800 vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The order is the second-largest vehicle contract in the company’s history.

About $188.8 million of that work, or 401 vehicles, will be produced by Force Dynamics, a 50/50 joint venture with General Dynamic Land Systems, a division of General Dynamics Corp., which is headquartered in Falls Church, Va.

The latest order means Force Protection has received contracts for more than 2,700 vehicles under the Marine Corps’ Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program. The new contract calls for 553 MRAP Category I Cougar 4X4 and 247 Category II Cougar 6X6 vehicles.

All of the vehicles are to be delivered by April 2008 under the terms of the agreement, said Force Protection spokesman Jeff Childs.

Despite the division of the contract between Force Protection and the Force Dynamics joint venture, Childs said all work on the vehicles is going to be performed in Ladson.

“This order is significant in several ways,” Force Protection COO Raymond Pollard said in a written statement. “First, it is the second largest vehicle contract in the company’s history; second, it is indicative that our proven in-field performance has shown that all V-shaped armored vehicles are not created equally; and, third, it is fresh evidence that our vehicles represent a leading and effective battlefield solution in Iraq.

“We are currently ahead of our MRAP delivery schedule,” Pollard said. “This new order is expected to keep our current production lines operating at or near capacity.”