Building on the success of a previous contract to build Non Standard Commercial Vehicles (NSCVs), Battelle has been awarded a second contract worth $170 million from the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
Under terms of the contract, Battelle will build armored and unarmored vehicles for the next five years at its manufacturing facility in West Columbus. The contract also includes an option for two more years.
For more than 11 years Battelle has been designing, building and delivering commercial-style armored vehicles. The ground vehicle team takes existing vehicles, reengineers them with protective armor and adds other durability features, such as stronger suspensions for operations in rugged terrain and enhanced alternators to withstand extreme climates. Battelle vehicles have previously completed formal durability testing and system level armor testing.
“Battelle has a proven track record of performing sophisticated systems integration for military and commercial applications,” said Fred Byus, vice president of Battelle’s Mission and Defense Technologies business. “Under this contract, our vehicle systems team will execute on its custom designs and integrate complex systems to meet mission requirements—at a competitive cost.”
Battelle’s armored vehicles retain the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) appearance, whether Hilux, Land Cruiser and Ford platforms. The vehicles are re-engineered with crew protection, enhanced suspension for improved off-road mobility, and a reinforced chassis for durability.
Battelle has a long history of helping U.S. armed forces with protected vehicles, all the way back to its work on tank armor in World War II. More recent work has included armoring High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) and training military personnel and contractors to install more than 500 protective armor kits onto existing vehicles.