BAE Systems South Africa has started the production of upgrade kits for the RG31 0102113

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Defense Industry News - BAE Systems South Africa
 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 19:49 PM

 
BAE Systems South Africa has started the production of upgrade kits for the RG31.
 
 
South African specialist armoured and mine protected vehicle company BAE Systems Land Systems South Africa has started production of upgrade kits for the company’s RG31 mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles in service with the US armed forces, under a contract worth more than R900-million.
     
South African specialist armoured and mine protected vehicle company BAE Systems Land Systems South Africa has started production of upgrade kits for the company’s RG31 mine resistant ambush protected (Mrap) vehicles in service with the US armed forces, under a contract worth more than R900-million.
RG31 MRAP category mine protected wheeled armoured vehicle
     

The order was awarded to lead contractor General Dynamics Land Systems Canada (GDLS-C) by the US Department of Defence at the end of last year and the upgrade programme should be completed before the end of this year.

“We are manufacturing the parts for the upgrade kits in South Africa,” Land Systems South Africa marketing and communications manager Natasha Pheiffer explained on Tuesday. “This is helping maintain our work force.”

The upgrade provides improvements in the survivability and mobility of the RG31, and includes a new, higher performance, power pack, new transfer cases and new suspension components. Most of these parts for the upgrade are produced by Land Systems OMC.

So far, more than 1 600 RG31s have been supplied to the US armed forces via GDLS-C, with another 566 supplied to the American military under separate contracts.