Busher said the company plans to have the first phase of plant upfitting completed by Oct. 8 and that the first vehicle assembly should take place during the fourth quarter of this year. The company is currently interviewing for assemblers, he said.
By mid-2008, Busher said, the company hopes to have its first Cheetah complete and ready to ship from the Roxboro plant.
The Cheetah is designed specifically for reconnaissance, forward command and control, and urban operations, and combines state-of-the-art ballistic and blast protection with the mobility of a light-armored vehicle. Its speed and road handling make it ideal for homeland security missions, Busher said.
The story has Busher going on to say that the Cheetah is the likely successor to the Humvee. Lockheed Martin is reportedly preparing a competing design, and Force Protection's local competitor (also headquartered in South Carolina) Protected Vehicles Inc. has also designed a vehicle intended to replace the Humvee.
clipped from www.weeklystandard.com
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