Local General Dynamics employees making armor kits for military trucks
People in Lincoln are working on armor retrofit kits to help protect soldiers in Iraq from the most common killers in the war — the roadside bomb.
About 22 of the 223 employees at Lincoln's General Dynamic plant, 4300 Progressive Ave., are working on a $7.2 million job from Israeli contractor Plasan Sasa to make armor protection kits for the U.S. Army's M915 tactical wheeled vehicle, said General Dynamics spokesman John Suttle.
The M915 is the military version of a commercial tractor-trailer, the company said.
"Some already have been delivered to Iraq and they are saving lives now," Suttle said.
Manufactured from a sandwich of steel, composite materials and aluminum, the add-on armor kits will protect the M915 cargo vehicle and its personnel against improvised explosive devices, mines and unconventional terrorist threats, like those encountered in Iraq, the company said.
"We apply composites to the steel plate, then weld it so the kits can be bolted onto the cab and the wheel wells," said spokesman Tim Haddock. The welding is done at Stephenson's Truck Repair near the General Dynamics plant.
The kits are shipped to Arizona, where they are tested, then sent to Iraq, Haddock said.
Deliveries on this contract extend through August. Manufacturing is going on at the company's Marion, Va., plant, as well.
The people working in Lincoln on the project are a combination of new hires and employees who Suttle said might not have kept their jobs.
"It gives you a good feeling to make things for a company that saves lives," Suttle said.
The Lincoln plant is part of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products division. General Dynamics bought the Lincoln plant from Advanced Technical Products Inc. in May of 2002.
On the Net: www.gdatp.com.
About 22 of the 223 employees at Lincoln's General Dynamic plant, 4300 Progressive Ave., are working on a $7.2 million job from Israeli contractor Plasan Sasa to make armor protection kits for the U.S. Army's M915 tactical wheeled vehicle, said General Dynamics spokesman John Suttle.
The M915 is the military version of a commercial tractor-trailer, the company said.
"Some already have been delivered to Iraq and they are saving lives now," Suttle said.
Manufactured from a sandwich of steel, composite materials and aluminum, the add-on armor kits will protect the M915 cargo vehicle and its personnel against improvised explosive devices, mines and unconventional terrorist threats, like those encountered in Iraq, the company said.
"We apply composites to the steel plate, then weld it so the kits can be bolted onto the cab and the wheel wells," said spokesman Tim Haddock. The welding is done at Stephenson's Truck Repair near the General Dynamics plant.
The kits are shipped to Arizona, where they are tested, then sent to Iraq, Haddock said.
Deliveries on this contract extend through August. Manufacturing is going on at the company's Marion, Va., plant, as well.
The people working in Lincoln on the project are a combination of new hires and employees who Suttle said might not have kept their jobs.
"It gives you a good feeling to make things for a company that saves lives," Suttle said.
The Lincoln plant is part of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products division. General Dynamics bought the Lincoln plant from Advanced Technical Products Inc. in May of 2002.
On the Net: www.gdatp.com.
Copyright © 2002-2008 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.