Stars and Stripes MRAP story

Stars and Stripes published a nice story on the new MRAPs deployed to the Baghdad area.

They did a nice job putting together some graphics, including the Humvee/Cougar 4X4/Cougar 6X6 comparison chart.

The best part might be a sidebar that sums up what soldiers like about the vehicles juxtaposed with what they don't like about them.

clipped from www.estripes.com

One slight problem with the story: The comments of the soldiers seem to be associated with their training on Navistar's MaxxPro vehicle, while the graphic comparison emphasizes the Cat. I and Cat. II Cougars built by Force Protection. The criticisms do not necessarily apply to both vehicles.

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Force Protection pushing ahead with plant for Cheetah MRAP

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.

(Roxboro-Courier.com)

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

The Lockheed Martin design.


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