Force Protection to Install Cougar Independent Suspension Upg

(July 6, 2009) -- Force Protection, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT), a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of life saving survivability solutions and provider of total life cycle support for those products, today announced that it has received contracts for both Phase 1 and Phase 2 installation of specifically redesigned TAK-4 independent suspension kits for 1,317 Cougar MRAPs.

The Phase 1 award under modification to Contract M67854-07-D-5031 from the United States Marine Corps Systems Command was made on June 16, 2009 for $21.4 million and the Phase 2 was awarded on Friday, July 2, 2009 for an additional $48.9 million. The work is expected to be completed prior to February, 2010 and will be performed by both Force Protection's staff of field service representatives (FSR) and by FSRs from Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) under subcontract to Force Protection. The modification for the purchase of the hardware associated with this installation work was awarded on April 8, 2009 in the amount of $158.1 million, bringing the total cost for this independent suspension upgrade program, thus far, to approximately $228 million. The awards under these contract modifications are subject to definitization.

Michael Moody, Chief Executive Officer of Force Protection, commented, "We are pleased to have received these awards to install this much needed, high-performance mobility upgrade package for approximately a third of our deployed fleet of Cougar MRAPs. This award demonstrates our ability to capture a range of opportunities to provide service, support, spares and training. We are excited to leverage our recent investment in our Kuwait-based logistics and service depot, which we believe has significantly increased our ability to serve our customer and the war-fighter with faster response and more comprehensive service."

Source : Force Protection, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT)