In partnership with the Anniston Army Depot (ANAD), BAE Systems is refurbishing 440 M113A2 armored personnel carriers for Iraq through a foreign military sales contract worth more than $31 million.

“The M113 refurbishment will give the Iraqi Army a capability which is relevant to a variety of threat environments,” said Joe McCarthy, Vice President and General Manager of Combat Vehicles at BAE Systems.

“We have been exporting and doing upgrade work on M113s for decades. This new work builds upon our great partnership with Anniston Army Depot,” he added.

The refurbishment of the M113 vehicles includes replacing old and damaged equipment with updated components and restoring the vehicles to fully mission capable condition. Work on the M113 refurbishment will be completed by April 2012 and is being performed at the company’s Anniston, Alabama facility by the existing workforce.  ANAD is assisting with part of the refurbishment work.

“BAE Systems and Anniston Army Depot have the longest standing Public Private Partnership in the Army,” said U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL).

“I'm proud of the work that both do and in this tough economy, it’s great to see the leaders of industry and the Army continue to partner and keep our military strong while providing the resources necessary for both the warfighters and our allies to help defend our freedoms,” Rogers added.

According to the ANAD Business Management Office, “the M113 family of vehicle partnering program provides a great example of how to maintain and strengthen the defense industrial base.  It utilizes the strengths of both the organic and industrial base to provide the best product for both the war fighters and our allies. We look forward to continuing to work on future efforts.”

Under a separate effort, BAE Systems will provide materials to ANAD to refurbish 586 M113A2s also bound for Iraq.  In addition, BAE Systems is also providing field service support and equipment trainers to help with fielding the equipment to the Iraqi Army.

The M113 is part of the largest family of armored tracked vehicles in the world and includes more than 80,000 vehicles worldwide with 40 variants.  It can transport 12 troops plus a driver and is capable of amphibious operation, extended cross-country travel over rough terrain and high-speed operation on improved roads and highways.

This award builds upon earlier work BAE Systems has completed in support of foreign military sales to Iraq.  Under separate contracts, BAE Systems has delivered 618 Iraqi Light Armored Vehicles and eight M88A2 Heavy Recovery Vehicles to the U.S. Government in support of Iraq’s Armed Forces.  BAE Systems is also providing training and field service representatives to support Iraq’s fielding of the M88A2s.  Total orders for Iraq security assistance contracts and work directives in 2011 totaled more than $60 million.