Thursday, February 16, 2006

KENT FAULK
News staff writer

HUNTSVILLE - An Alabama company believes it has developed an armored troop carrier system to help protect soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan against gunfire and homemade roadside bombs.

If Teledyne Brown Engineering and its partner, Science Applications International Corp., can sell enough to the U.S. and other countries, it may put a factory in Alabama's Black Belt to manufacture the Multipurpose Troop Transport Carrier System, the company's president said.

"It would be a win-win for Alabama as well as Huntsville," said retired Army Lt. Gen. James M. Link, president of Teledyne Brown.

Teledyne Brown officials on Wednesday demonstrated a prototype of the system, which underwent testing in Iraq last year.

The armor system is comprised of panels and sections of armor that can be formed into an enclosed box that can be mounted on the back of standard 2.5-ton, 5-ton, or 7-ton military trucks. Sections can be added or removed to fit the truck.

Inch-thick armor helps protect soldiers inside from armor-piercing bullets of up to 7.62 mm, Link said. "The greatest benefit is against shrapnel from IEDs, improvised explosive devices, that's taking so many casualties now," he said.

IEDs, commonly referred to as homemade roadside bombs, have been responsible for more than half the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, according to some estimates.

Armored panels on the Teledyne Brown system have small, bullet-proof windows that can be popped open for soldiers to fire from. There also are two mounts for 50-caliber machine guns and air conditioning.

Mike Ogles, program manager for the system at Teledyne Brown, said the armor system also can be expanded and placed on the ground for use at checkpoints and as dining areas and even hospitals.

"It's very versatile," Ogles said.

SAIC approached Teledyne Brown with the idea for the system in early 2004.

Jeff Daniels, military systems analyst with SAIC in Huntsville, said the company saw a need for an armored troop carrier system in Iraq that protected soldiers from all four sides. The main thing the Army was using was canvas-covered 5-ton trucks, he said.

The troop carrier trucks that did have armor sections on the back didn't cover soldiers from the top, Daniels said. Those armor systems also couldn't be used once they were removed from the trucks, he said.

Prototype in Iraq:

Teledyne took SAIC's idea and built the prototype, which was tested last year for 45 days in Iraq carrying soldiers and Iraqi prisoners.

Link said the company has submitted a proposal to the Army to build the armor system, which would cost about $350,000 each. He said a foreign country also has expressed interest in buying about 50 of the vehicles. Teledyne is trying to get State Department approval for such a foreign sale.

Manufacturing of up to 100 units at a time could be done at Teledyne's Huntsville plant, Link said. But if orders exceed that, Teledyne and SAIC would need another plant, he said.

The companies have looked at sites in the Black Belt for a plant and have talked to U.S. Rep. Artur Davis about the idea, Link said.

E-mail: kfaulk@bhamnews.com

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