Force Protection, a designer and manufacturer of high-tech armored vehicles, has won a $376 million contract to build another 800 of its Cougar models for the U.S. Marine Corps.
The company, which is building a new facility in Roxboro, N.C. to build smaller vehicles, will produce four-wheel and six-wheel versions of the Cougars under the new program. The Cougars are designed to defeat improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and land mines.
Force Protection vehicles are used widely in Iraq and Afghanistan by the U.S. military.
General Dynamics Land Systems, a partner with Force protection, will produce 188 of the vehicles. Some work will be done in Charlotte and Kings Point, N.C.
