Middle east MRAP sale give hope to truck manufacturers.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin
• Position: Military Vehicles

Many of the mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles that Pentagon officials have heralded as life-savers in two wars are most likely headed for mothballs, or--for the more dinged up ones--scrap yards.

The armored tactical wheeled vehicles were rapidly fielded to stave off the roadside bomb threat, and saved 40,000 lives, according to the Pentagon's Joint Program Office for Mine-Resistant Protected Vehicles. The fate of the Afghan version after the scheduled pullout from that country in 2014 is still unknown, and has experts speculating on whether they will be sold for scrap or stored.

This uncertainty hasn't stopped the vehicles' manufacturers from hauling these trucks to trade shows in hopes that new customers emerge. To date, few of the models have been sold to non-U.S. buyers.

That was until Oshkosh Corp. inked a multi-million dollar deal to sell 750 of its off-road version of the MRAP to the United Arab Emirates.

"We believe there is a market and a need for MRAPs," said John Urias, president of Oshkosh Defense. "I can't say it will always be an MRAP classification of vehicle, [but] there is a market and a need globally for some kind of armored protection."

A company spokesman wouldn't disclose the exact value of the contract, but said it was "several hundred millions" of dollars.

Urias said that the UAE approached Oshkosh about obtaining M-ATVs--the U.S. military's version of the MRAP created for the Afghanistan conflict. They will be delivered between January and August of 2013, and are basically the same M-ATV model, Urias said. As for other potential foreign customers, he said it would be "premature" to list countries that they are working with.

Navistar, which has built nearly 9,000 of the vehicles for the U.S. military and its allies, has also ventured into international territory to sell its version of the armored truck. In 2009, it sold 15 MaxxPro MRAPs to Singapore, and in 2010, South Korea purchased 10 vehicles, said Navistar spokes-woman Elissa Koc.

While Navistar is currently not producing MRAPs, it is actively working on the sustainment of its vehicles and retrofitting them with new equipment, such as a new rolling chassis upgrade, Koc said. The upgrade gives the trucks a new independent suspension chassis, which enhances its off-road capabilities.

"While there is not going to be a whole lot of demand for new MRAPs, we are looking for solutions to keep the current fleet relevant," said Koc.

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