ARLINGTON, Va., 27 Feb. 2009. BAE Systems has delivered two different Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV) prototypes and associated vetronics to the U.S. government for two months of testing and evaluation.

Two different segments of the company's Land & Armaments operating group produced a version of the armored land vehicles for consideration, reveals a representative.

M-ATVs is a tactical vehicle designed for U.S. soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan to be lighter, more mobile versions of the first-generation MRAPs tactical vehicles. They provide comparable protection from roadside bombs, explosively formed projectiles, and rocket propelled grenades when using appliqué armor.

The M-ATV developed by BAE Systems' U.S. Combat Systems (USCS) line of business is the product of more than 30 months of mine-protected light tactical vehicle development, says a representative. The USCS M-ATV has completed thousands of test miles and scores of blast and ballistic tests.

"This vehicle has the survivability of an MRAP and the mobility of a HMMWV," says Matt Riddle, vice president and general manager of USCS. "It has the optimum capabilities needed by our troops in Afghanistan."

The company's Global Tactical Systems (GTS) line of business submitted the GTS M-ATV prototype, which incorporates lessons learned from development of the prototype Caiman Light MRAP and the rapid development and manufacturing of nearly 3,000 Caiman MRAPs from 2007 to 2008.

"Our M-ATV provides urgent life-saving technology, multi-mission effectiveness, and operational agility not currently available to the Army," says Regis Luther, vice president of Light Tactical Vehicles. "We combined the industry's best in combat vehicle survivability and mine blast resistant platforms to develop our M-ATV."

GTS MAT-V comes from a line of battle-tested, combat-proven tactical vehicles in the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle (FMTV) line. This arrangement enables the GTS MAT-V to share 90 percent of its automotive systems with the FMTV. The GTS M-ATV and FMTV also uses the common armor systems, power generation systems, seats, windows, and fire suppression systems, reducing logistics requirements Army-wide.