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December
16, 2003
The Muskegon Chronicle
By Dave Alexander
General Dynamics Land Systems received a $1.9
billion subcontract to help design and build 18 prototypes
of the U.S. Army's next generation of combat vehicles.
The Sterling
Heights-based division of General Dynamics will perform
some of the engineering work at its technical center
in Norton Shores, 640 Seminole.
The combat vehicle development work here will be done
by existing staff. The local facility has 50 to 60
employees in the technical center. General Dynamics
will hire 150 more engineers in Sterling Heights for
the vehicle prototype work.
"This contract will do a lot to sustain the quality
of the engineers in Muskegon for the next five years,"
said Pete Keating, General Dynamics Land Systems spokesman.
Some of the components and machining for the 18 prototype
vehicles may be done in Muskegon at the Land Systems
production facility, 76 S. Getty.
Meanwhile, in a separate announcement, General Dynamics
and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, said a contract
for 1,800 "crankshaft engines" for the M88
Hercules Army recovery vehicle will mean $12.5 million
worth of work in Muskegon through December 2008. The
M88 Hercules can handle the heaviest of Army vehicles
including the new Abrams M-I tank.
As for the next generation of Army vehicles, General
Dynamics Land Systems will be leading a design team
through a subcontract with Boeing Corp. Boeing has
a $14 billion contract to head the Army's Future Combat
Systems program, which will integrate both land and
aerial equipment.
The 18 prototypes to be assembled in Sterling Heights
and delivered by late 2007 will demonstrate the capabilities
of a family of vehicles for combat, command and control,
reconnaissance and surveillance and medical services.
The new smaller vehicles will be easier to deploy
than the bulkier Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams
tanks and be able to be transported in a C-130 airplane.
Communications and advanced technologies will be integrated
with aerial components, Army officials said.
©
2003 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission
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