DRS Technologies, Inc. announced that it has received an $8.5 million order to produce M989A1 Heavy Expanded Mobility Ammunition Trailers (HEMATs) for the U.S. Army.
The HEMAT is a key transport system extensively used to transport Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) pods, conventional ammunition and other equipment on paved, secondary or cross-country roads to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The order was received from the U.S. Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren, Michigan. Work for this award will be accomplished by the company's DRS Sustainment Systems unit in West Plains, Missouri.
This most recent order is part of a previously awarded, five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract to produce more than 580 HEMAT trailers over a five-year ordering period ending in October 2009.
"The DRS-built HEMAT system provides the Army with an extremely stable platform to transport MLRS pods and other cargo across the battle space, ensuring military readiness in ongoing operations," said Daniel A. Rodrigues, president of DRS's Sustainment Systems & Services Group. "This key transport system continues to demonstrate reliability, durability and versatility under extremely harsh conditions and remains an integral part of the military's operations in Iraq."
The HEMAT system provides key capabilities to support Army modularity and the Objective Force. A high-mobility trailer with a payload capacity of 11 tons, the system is designed to transport MLRS pods, palletized and non-palletized conventional ammunition and fuel bladders over primary and secondary roads or rough, cross-country terrain. Over the past 15 years, more than 2,000 HEMAT systems have been produced and used extensively by the Army worldwide.
DRS Technologies, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, is a leading supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and prime contractors worldwide. The company employs approximately 10,000 people.