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The Army has had a big increase in the number of MRAPs approved and the orders will be going out.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has approved an Army recommendation for a 600% increase in production of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to protect soldiers from makeshift bombs in Iraq.

The unannounced decision Thursday to build as many as 17,770 MRAPs for the Army comes as Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made the vehicle the Pentagon's top priority. The MRAP's V-shaped hull and raised chassis are up to four times safer against the top threat to U.S. troops in Iraq — improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

It should be noted that these units, as conventionally constructed, are not proof against EFP’s and have to be further armored before deployment. Other than that, it’s all good news for Ladson, SC manufacturer Force Protection, the primary manufacturer of these trucks, right?

No.

As the Armchair Generalist points out, the little company that could is about to be crushed in the elephant stampede:

The little company with the Big Idea to develop Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles is struggling to get its contracts from the U.S. government. Its initial order for 455 vehicles was smaller than expected, and surprise surprise, the Big Boys have awakened as to this great source of income opportunity to protect our soldiers and Marines. From The Street:

Fierce competition for a big government armored-truck deal is dimming Force Protection's glow.

The Ladson, S.C., military-vehicle maker has been the biggest winner so far in the Army's mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles contract. But as the MRAP show goes on, Force Protection is sharing more and more of the spotlight with its rivals.

Navistar -- once viewed as a minor character at best -- recently grabbed the largest single MRAP order placed so far. Other players like Armor Holdings and Oshkosh Truck, as well as an upstart launched by Force Protection's founder, are poised to crowd the stage as well.
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Now, Millward looks for two Force Protection rivals to land new contracts in a matter of days. Notably, Millward believes that General Dynamics -- Force Protection's joint-venture partner -- may have already passed performance tests and could soon snag a big contract on its own. Then, she feels that Armor or Oshkosh could announce a major award right after that.

Dagnabit! Just when I thought I saw a chance to make a dollar or two in the defense industry! Force Protection was cruising along at $31 a short time ago and it looked like tall cotton as they got their first order of about 500 vehicles. Last Friday it closed at $23.07 as Wall Street realized the elephants will get the majority of the orders.

Navistar (NAVZ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) -- once viewed as a minor character at best -- recently grabbed the largest single MRAP order placed so far. Other players like Armor Holdings (AH - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) and Oshkosh Truck (OSK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), as well as an upstart launched by Force Protection's founder, are poised to crowd the stage as well.

While the MRAP has been promoted as a robust successor to the HumVee, it was not really conceived as combat vehicle. It was just supposed to be more impervious to IEDs than the older vehicle. It takes the infantry to the fight. Then, like infantry for thousands of years, they have to dismount and fight on foot.

Back during the 1950s and 60s NATO was horrified to learn that the Soviets had developed Infantry Fighting Vehicles with gunports on the side, implying they would be part of the armored juggernaut poised to roll across Europe, engulfing everything. There was great panic among analysts at the image of these monsters cruising through the Fulda Gap, their infantry passengers blazing away out the sides like a 20th century version of Jan Hus’ war wagons. Cooler heads eventually pointed out that the small width, confined compartment, and lack of good ventilation would made the interiors a hellish nightmare that the troops would be happy to escape.

Still, the MRAP is a better choice and naturally the Pentagon wants them yesterday, even as an active search continues for a better version of this $20+ Billion purchase.

The Armchair Generalist points out that in a battle between Army ants and Defense Industry elephants the ants always lose:

It seems that the Marine Corps also likes the BAE version of the MRAP, with an announcement for a $214 million contract for its vehicles. And now perhaps you'll see my concern over rushing to judgment over a "good idea" that the field has - the military-industrial complex isn't going to get rolled that easy, so now we're going to have four or five different vehicle systems entering the inventory, all with unique spare parts and maintenance contracts, costing billions more than the more reasonable solution. What's that solution, you ask? Doing it the old fashioned way - getting out of the vehicles. … This is why you don't rush into knee-jerk procurement actions. There is a rationale for the process of examining non-material options before going with expensive hardware solutions. I'm sure that our fine military leaders will figure this all out, they don't need any advice from small-time defense analysts such as myself. But right now, they're currently too busy ordering up more armor to strap to the MRAPs, since the MRAP armor won't stop the explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). Details, always details.

If you really want to understand why we’re staying in Iraq and Afghanistan until the bitter end, Big Oil’s lust for new fields isn’t the only answer. The Baby Huey of the Defense Industry has to be fed, too.

Articles on MRAPs:

Mine Resistant Vehicles

17,700 MRAPs

Marine MRAPs Mired in Minutiae

A Minor MRAP Problem

The Super-MRAP

The Cougar MRAP

Baby Huey Needs Feeding

A Strategically Influenced Nation