Navistar to repair and upgrade as many as 450 MRAP military vehicles

Armored combat vehicle experts at Navistar Defense LLC in Lisle, Ill., will rebuild and upgrade 250 mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) military vehicles and vetronics systems under a $29.8 million contract modification. Officials of the Army Contracting Command in Warren, Mich., are asking Navistar to reset and upgrade 250 MRAPs, with an option for an additional 200 vehicles. MRAP is a wheeled armored personnel carrier with a V-shaped hull designed to deflect the energy from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) detonated from beneath the vehicle. MRAP vehicles use such electronic subsystems as rugged Gigabit Ethernet switches from Aeronix in Melbourne, Fla. and from Sixnet in Ballston Lake, N.Y.; Falcon II AN/VRC-104 HF military radio from Harris RF Communications in Rochester, N.Y.; smart display units from General Dynamics Canada; and infrared night-vision driver's vision enhancers from DRS Technologies and BAE Systems.