STERLING HEIGHTS -- The U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, a contract for production and maintenance of 615 Stryker vehicles.

The contract has a total potential value of $1.2 billion; initial funding in the amount of $599 million was provided with the award.

Work will be performed in Anniston, Ala.; Sterling Heights, Mich.; Lima, Ohio; and London, Ontario, Canada. Work is expected to be completed by May 2011.

This award continues vehicle production under the Stryker program, which was initially awarded to General Dynamics in 2000. To date, General Dynamics has fielded 2,550 vehicles and trained 17,312 soldiers. Fielding is currently underway for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA.

Stryker Brigade Combat Teams have operated with "historically high" mission availability rates in Iraq since October 2003, demonstrating the value of a force that can move rapidly as a cohesive and networked combined-arms combat team. Stryker vehicles have logged a total of more than 19 million miles during six Operation Iraqi Freedom rotations.

Stryker is a family of eight-wheel drive combat vehicles that can travel at speeds up to 62 mph on highways, with a range of 312 miles. It, is the Army's highest-priority production combat vehicle program and the centerpiece of the ongoing Army Transformation. Stryker operates with the latest C4ISR equipment and an integrated armor package protecting soldiers against improvised explosive devices, rocket propelled grenades, and a variety of infantry weapons.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 84,600 people worldwide and anticipates 2008 revenues of approximately $29.5 billion. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies.

GDLS
07.08.2008