Force Protection disappointed by not landing Pentagon contract

Armored-vehicle maker Force Protection Inc. said Wednesday it was disappointed about not being picked for a Pentagon contract valued at more than $1 billion but stressed its growth prospects are not dependent on that deal.

A joint venture between Ladson-based manufacturer and General Dynamics Corp. was among three bidders that lost out on a $1.06 billion contract to build blast-resistant off-road trucks for ground forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

The job went to Oshkosh Corp., which beat out three teams for the deal to build 2,244 vehicles, including Force Dynamics LLC, the Force Protection-General Dynamics venture.

The military has said it needs a lightweight armored vehicle to provide the same type of protection as the hulking mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that have been widely used in Iraq. Many of those so-called MRAPs were built by Force Protection.

But the Pentagon has said the new fleet of trucks needed for Afghanistan must be far more agile, lighter and provide increased maneuverability to handle that country's rocky terrain.

In recent months, Force Dynamics had manufactured several models of its proposed vehicle as part of the Defense Department bidding process

Michael Moody, chief executive officer of Force Protection, said in statement Wednesday "we are disappointed to have not been selected," but that "our business planning and ability to continue to generate growth and value for our shareholders was not dependent upon winning" the contact.

"We remain very optimistic about the near and longer-term opportunities to grow our business and to serve our customers with a diverse array of urgently needed survivability solutions and total life cycle support for our deployed fleet of vehicles," he said. "We are well-positioned to capture a variety of opportunities for service, support, spares, and training that exist with regard to our fleet of deployed vehicles."