Textron’s [TXT] Marine & Land Systems (TM&LS) unit said yesterday it received a $31.6 million contract award from the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) to provide 28 COMMANDO™ Advanced Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), with 40mm/.50 cal remote turrets, to the Colombian Army (COLAR).
Initial APC deliveries to the U.S. Army, for shipping to Colombia, are expected to begin in November, with all vehicles scheduled to be completed and transferred by April 2014.
 |
| COMMANDO Advanced Photo: TM&LS |
The contract also includes repair services on two damaged Armored Personnel Carriers in the COLAR’s inventory, which consists of 39 COMMANDO Advanced APCs in operation with its Armored Cavalry units. These repairs will coincide with vehicle support service work on COLAR APCs awarded to TM&LS earlier this year.
Since fielding its APCs in May 2010, the COLAR has employed them extensively while combating internal revolutionary forces in Colombia. These vehicles have provided the mobility, protection and firepower needed to meet all COLAR tactical armored vehicle requirements.
“Our Colombian Army customer values the performance, operator protection and reliability they have experienced with our COMMANDO APCs during more than three years of demanding operations,” said Textron Marine & Land Systems Senior Vice President and General Manager Tom Walmsley. “We’re pleased to be growing this relationship and providing the Colombian Army with this important asset for its Cavalry units.”
The COMMANDO Advanced APC is an extended version of the Armored Security Vehicle, combat proven by the U.S. Army and other militaries in locations including Afghanistan and Iraq for more than 10 years. The APC’s additional two feet in length and six inches in internal height allow greater troop carrying capacity. These vehicles offer on-road and off-road mobility, so they can operate in urban, jungle, desert and mountainous terrain. Crew protection is reinforced with a V-shaped hull bottom and 360-degree protection from direct fire.