Sign In
Free Newsletter
BAE wins $153.6M U.S. Army contract
Joseph Deinlein//October 6, 2014
The contract calls for BAE to convert 53 M88A1 recovery vehicles to the M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift Evacuation System (HERCULES) configuration, according to a news release from BAE. Work on the contract will extend the M88 production line through 2016.
Work will start immediately and be handled by the existing workforce at BAE’s ground systems division in West Manchester Township, according to the release. Additional work will be done at Anniston Army Depot in Anniston, Ala., and BAE’s Aiken, S.C., facility. To date, BAE Systems has converted nearly 650 U.S. Army M88 vehicles to the HERCULES configuration, according to the company.
The Army Armored Brigade Combat Team uses the HERCULES to, among other things, recover M1 Abrams tanks and other mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. The 70,000-pound boom can lift twice the weight of the M88A1 version.
Of the six tracked combat vehicles used by the American military, five of them are manufactured at BAE’s York County plant.
