Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Navistar International Corp. was awarded a $751.5 million contract for blast-proof trucks, the U.S. Department of Defense said today on its Web site.
Navistar received orders for 1,050 Mine-Resistant Ambush- Protected trucks or MRAPs, Elissa Koc, a spokeswoman for the Warrenville, Illinois-based company, said in an e-mail. With today’s award, Navistar has orders for a total of 7,494 of the blast-resistant trucks, she said.
The Pentagon has said it is seeking to buy 2,510 additional trucks to be delivered to U.S. troops in Afghanistan by this summer. The Defense Department may buy about 1,460 all-terrain versions of those trucks, called M-ATVs, from Oshkosh Corp., based in the Wisconsin town of the same name.
The U.S. Central Command has sought 10,600 more of the armored MRAP trucks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a Feb. 1 news conference.
Separately, the Pentagon announced today a $227.4 million order from General Dynamics Corp. for 250 of its version of the MRAP vehicles.