By Ann Roosevelt
General Dynamics [GD] yesterday said it has been selected to negotiate a contract with the Israel for Merkava Armored Personnel Carriers (APC).
The competitive procurement process was for the production of Merkava APC hulls, material kit sets and integration of the kits to the vehicle chassis. General Dynamics expects to complete contract negotiations by the end of this year.
According to an article in the Oct. 24 Jerusalem Post, BAE Systems and Textron [TXT] also competed for the program, which could be valued at some $400 million.
The APCs, called Namer, would also carry an Israel Military Industries (IMI) active protection system, the Jerusalem Post said. As many as 600 of the vehicles could be built in total.
Production of the vehicles will be done at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, GD said in a statement.
The base contract would be completed by March 2015 or extended to November 2019 if all options are exercised.
If contract negotiations are successful, and the Namer is built in the United States, Israel would be able to pay with the financial aid provided annually by the United States, the bulk of which must be spent in the United States.