Alcoa to supply armor plate to Arsenal

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By Jennifer DeWitt | Tuesday, October 9, 2007 4:02 AM CDT | () comments

This is one type of the new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, armored vehicle. The Alcoa Davenport Works will produce aluminum armor plate for use in the new vehicles. Buy this Photo

Alcoa Davenport Works in Riverdale, Iowa, will produce aluminum armor plate for use in the U.S. Army’s new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, armored vehicle program, the manufacturer announced Monday.

The Army’s TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, headquartered in Warren, Mich., has selected Alcoa’s North American Rolled Products business as the supplier for the $31.7 million contract.

Davenport Works will begin shipping aluminum plate to the TACOM facility at the Rock Island Arsenal in November. Alcoa said it will deliver more than 1 million pounds of aluminum each month during the contract, which runs through June 2008.

Davenport Works, which employs 2,200 workers, is heavily involved in the aerospace and automotive industries and traditionally has few local customers for its products.

“This is a win-win for the Quad-Cities,” said Mark Vrablec, the plant’s director of manufacturing. “This is a product we can produce and ship just across the river for work that will be done right here at the Rock Island Arsenal. We are pleased to continue our long history of supplying material for national defense to help protect troops.”

MRAP vehicles are designed to survive IED, or improvised explosive devise, and ambush attacks.

The U.S. Senate recently passed legislation that boosts funding for MRAPs by $23.6 billion, which will allow the Army to replace all of its up-armored humvees in Iraq. The legislation, pushed by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, passed as part of the Department of Defense Authorization Bill.

Because of the Columbus Day holiday, representatives of TACOM could not be reached for comment Monday. It was not clear how involved the Rock Island Arsenal would be in production of the MRAPs.

Most of the product from Alcoa will be delivered to the Rock Island Arsenal, although the contract allows for delivery to other Army depots, said Alcoa spokesman John Riches.

He said the contract will be filled by the current work force. “This is good business for us to have and will help fill up some areas of the plant that have not been as full, even though aerospace has been very good.”

Harry Kiskaddon, the commercial director for aerospace at Alcoa’s North American Rolled Products, said the company, based in Pittsburgh, Pa., sees the defense market as a key part of its future business plan.

In remarks released when the Senate passed the bipartisan funding amendment, Sen. Biden said “While we argue in Washington about the best course of action in Iraq, our troops on the ground face improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, explosively formed penetrators, sniper fire and suicide bombers every day.

“We have no higher obligation than to protect those we send to the front lines,’’ said Biden, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination who for the past six months has called on the Bush administration to make construction and deployment of MRAPs a national priority.

The MRAPs have been proven to reduce casualties by more than two-thirds. Top U.S. military leaders in Iraq have said they want to replace every Army up-armored humvee in Iraq with an MRAP.

MRAP: at a glance

Fast facts about MRAP:

A MRAP is a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle.

The vehicle can hold four to 12 people and provides four to five times more protection than an up-armored humvee.

An MRAP has a raised V-shaped huls and chassis. The raised hull gives the blast more time to expand, lessening its impact on those inside the vehicle. The V-shape also pushes the blast up the sides of the vehicle, away from the occupants.

With a Humvee, the flat bottom sends the blast through the floor and right into the occupants.

MRAPs have side armor and bulletproof glass as well as tires that can be driven when flat.

The vehicles are proven to reduce casualties from roadside bombs — the most lethal weapon used against our troops in Iraq — by 67 percent to 80 percent.

Source: Web site of U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.