Textron Marine & Land Systems (TM&LS) recently announced that it received a third option award from the US Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, for 71 mobile strike force vehicles (MSFV) for the Afghanistan National Army (ANA). These vehicles were added to the current contract and have a not-to-exceed value of $79,182,680.

Work will be performed at Textron Marine & Land Systems’ facilities in the New Orleans area, with vehicle deliveries scheduledthrough October 2013. Three variants are being produced: MSFV with enclosed turret; MSFV with objective gunner protection kit; and an MSFV ambulance.

MSFV began arriving into Afghanistan in February. Soon after, comprehensive operator new equipment training of a first ANA battalion, called a Kandak, commenced. The first Kandak has completed this phase of training and has begun mounted and dismounted tactics training with NATO forces. With the training and sign over of vehicles to the ANA, the programme has achieved initial operational capability (IOC) on schedule.

“In less than two years our dedicated employees, together with the US Army’s Product Manager Armored Security Vehicles, have developed, tested, built and started fielding an essential capability for the Afghanistan National Army’s security mission,” explained Tom Walmsley, TM&LS Senior Vice President and General Manager. “This level of cooperation has enabled our team to quickly and efficiently produce more than 200 MSFVs to date, field the first ANA Kandak, and prepare the next Kandak to train on its fleet of vehicles.”

Derived from the combat-proven M1117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV), all MSFVs are configured with enhanced survivability (ES) capability, which improves blast protection to mine-resistant, ambushprotected (MRAP) levels. The ES-equipped vehicles continue to possess the ASV’s original, all-important V-shaped hull design, in addition to innovative protection design features that enable them to meet MRAP blast protection standards.

TM&LS has delivered nearly 3,900 M1117 ASVs and related configurations to the US Army and other military forces including Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia and Bulgaria.