http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/465/
Defense Professionals (Germany) December 9, 2009 Colombia to buy US-built Armoured Personnel Carriers Nicolas von Kospoth 39 M1117 ASVs will go the Colombia for some $45 million Textron to provide 39 M1117 ASVs within $45 million FMS -[T]he vehicle has seen great success with the US Army, as well as with exports to Iraq and Bulgaria. Some 2,500 ASVs have since been produced and introduced with the armies of these counties, with the 2,000th vehicle having been handed over to the US Army in July 2009....[T]he armoured vehicles have seen combat operation in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan.... In the face of an continuous degradation of the political relationship between Colombia and Venezuela, leading to a spiralling military build-up on both sides, the US will provide its most important ally on the South American continent with new armoured personnel carriers (APCs). The number of the vehicles of Colombia’s announced initial requirement, however, is by far not of any strategic significance in the bilateral quarrel. But it will certainly redound to Venezuela’s persistent accusations of a US-Colombian plot against its territorial integrity. As the US-based company Textron Marine & Land Systems recently announced, it will manufacture and deliver 39 of its M1117 Armored Security Vehicles (ASV) for the Colombian Army. The deal, also including associated logistics support, has been concluded through the US Army Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme and is valued at $45.6 million (€30.88 million). As Tom Walmsley, Textron Marine & Land Systems Senior Vice President and General Manager, underlined: “These vehicles will serve our Colombian allies well in the preservation of Colombia’s peace and security.” According to the US company, its 15-ton ASV possesses superior mobility, agility, handling and ride quality through the use of a four-wheel independent suspension system. The 4X4 wheeled ASVs for the Colombian Army will be equipped with a cupola mounted weapon station which is the same as the one used on the US Marine Corps LAV. It can be fitted with either a .50 calibre machine gun or MK-19 40mm grenade launcher. The vehicles, which have an price per unit of approximately $700,000, offer significant crew protection through the employment of a multiple-layer protection kit by IBD Deisenroth, defending against small arms fire, artillery projectile fragments, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and land mines. As Ulf Deisenroth, President of Germany-based IBD Deisenroth, recently told defpro.com “today [the ASV] is one of the most successful vehicles in the US Army in terms of survivability” (see also http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/450/). Based on the Cadillac Gage Commando vehicle that fought in Vietnam and developed in the 1990’s for the exclusive use by Military Police in operation areas, the vehicle has seen great success with the US Army, as well as with exports to Iraq and Bulgaria. Some 2,500 ASVs have since been produced and introduced with the armies of these counties, with the 2,000th vehicle having been handed over to the US Army in July 2009. Textron Marine & Land Systems has achieved more than 44 consecutive months of on-time delivery to the Army on the ASV programme. Furthermore, the armoured vehicles have seen combat operation in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan and logs more than 30,000 miles per year. Being one of the first Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to be deployed to Iraq, the ASV has earned the recognition of the Army’s Military Police units which relied on its protection and mobility. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ==============================
