BAE Systems receives $23.8 million contract for MRAP maintenance

BAE Systems received a contract modification worth $23.8 million for replacement and spare parts, instructor and maintenance support and other services for Caiman Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. Replacement and spare parts include improved front seats, electrical connectors for towing and to retrofit door assist system safety strips on the Caiman vehicles. Spare and replacement parts deliveries will be completed through January 2010 and will help the Army units in Iraq maintain the estimated 2,850 Caimans. The contract also covers Caiman instructor and maintenance support services through September 2009. “This contract will help keep vehicles in operating condition, which is essential to saving soldiers’ lives and supporting the success of the military mission in Iraq,” said Bruce Harrison, vice president of Product Support for BAE Systems in Houston, Texas. “We can continue to provide the parts, and instructors and maintenance support to our soldiers through our Forward Support Representatives and wherever and whenever the Army needs it”. The Caiman MRAP was designed in 2006 to fill the Department of Defense’s urgent need for vehicles to protect U.S. troops from roadside bombs, rocket propelled grenades and explosively formed projectiles. In 22 months of production, 2,868 Caimans were built. Caiman is one of the U.S. Army’s MRAPs operating in Iraq, boasts a 94 percent operational readiness rate and has helped soldiers survive roadside bomb attacks on numerous occasions.