Oshkosh Gets $438 Million Contract for 1,000 Trucks

Oshkosh Corp. won a $438 million contract from the U.S. military for an additional 1,000 blast-proof trucks, giving the company contracts to build 6,219 of the vehicles destined for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The order is for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles, the specialty truck maker said in a statement.

The order comes one day before Defense Secretary Robert Gates is set to visit the company’s production facilities in Wisconsin, Bloomberg reported.

Oshkosh already had orders for 5,219 of the vehicles and won its first contract in June. The total value of the M-ATV contracts is more than $3.2 billion and Oshkosh plans to boost production to 1,000 vehicles per month in December, Bloomberg said.

The trucks are built for troops in Afghanistan, where a lack of paved roads requires different equipment than the MRAP vehicles used in Iraq.