Minnesota Wire Central to Critical Pentagon Vehicle Program |
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Minnesota Wire
1835 Energy Park Dr.
Saint Paul, MN, 55108
USA
Press release date: April 21, 2009
Minnesota Wire was recently selected as the exclusive provider of cables for the Ekeel backplane assemblies on the first of the U.S. Army's M-ATV vehicles (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) All Terrain Vehicle), a system that is central to the high priority buildup of combat forces in Afghanistan. The vehicles are a follow-on design to the original MRAP, and the urgency of their need has given it a "DX" procurement rating, the highest priority for a Pentagon system.
Minnesota Wire's pre-production cable sets for M-ATV, 11 sets in all, have already gone to test vehicles in use by the U.S. Army in Iraq. The turnaround time from notification to delivery was just over 2 weeks, despite the extensive custom design work and testing required. The company is now bidding on a Pentagon order for cable assemblies that may eventually reach 2,000 of the vehicles. The prime contract for the total vehicle system is expected to be awarded by the end of April, and is currently being competitively bid among Navistar, Oshkosh Truck, Force Protection and BAE Systems.
The Ekeel system for the M-ATV, built by Synexxus, is a "plug and play" information backplane that can operate on vehicles with any weapon system, sensor device, and communication module within the same network. This type of backplane system can be found on modern fighter aircraft, and is increasingly found on next generation vehicles like M-ATV. Minnesota Wire's cables enable the backplanes to handle a vast amount of electronic signal transfer for communications and data with robust shielding, signal purity, and combat-ready ruggedization.
According to Tom Ashenbrenner, Defense Sales Manager, "This order reflects the confidence that defense agencies have in our ability to provide electrical signal integrity for complex electronic systems, with speed and quality." Minnesota Wire has gained a reputation for rapidly solving complex defense application cable solutions. Past successes include cables for the Army's Land Warrior and Future Force Warrior systems, the MRAP program and even for communications systems on the presidential aircraft, Air Force One.
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