Force Protection Inc

Force Protection, Inc.

Type	Division of General Dynamics (2011)
Founded	San Diego, California (1996)
Headquarters	Ladson, South Carolina
Key people	Frank Kavanaugh, Chairman/Founder
Products	mine- and blast- protected vehicles
Number of employees	over 1000
Subsidiaries	Force Protection Europe
Website	www.gdls.com

Force Protection, Inc. was a manufacturer of ballistic- and blast-protected vehicles from the United States which have been used in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and other hot spots around the world. The company was acquired by General Dynamics in 2011.

The company traces its roots to Sonic Jet Performance, Inc., a California speed boat company founded in 1997. When the boat business hit tough times after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a new investor Frank Kavanaugh stepped in and looked to alter the direction of the business. Kavanaugh financed and secured the rights to a new line of products in support of the company's Mission to Protect and Save Lives. Around that time, the team identified an insolvent company in South Carolina called Technical Solutions, building a prototype of a mine-resistant vehicle called Buffalo and attempting to build a smaller vehicle called the Cougar/Tempest MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected). Technical Solutions was struggling and required a new strategy and additional resources. The products were designed using commercial components, and utilized a strategy to allow them to be rapidly rebuilt in the field.

Kavanaugh, the company chairman and largest investor, rebranded the company Force Protection, added rapid design capability, a focus on product quality, large scale production, and technical talent including the addition Dr. Vernon Joynt an internationally recognized blast expert. Over a 3-year period, the new management team retooled the vehicles and developed the production capability of the business to almost $1.3 billion in annual sales - by integrating high quality US automotive components with an innovative and effective blast resistant chassis.

The heavily armored trucks featured a V-hull design that deflected underbody blasts away from the passenger compartment, and with Dr. Joynt's expertise the products were enhanced to address side-blast from IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that had become a primary cause of injury and death for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The base designs secured from Mechem (South African government) resulted in two U.S. models: the Buffalo, a huge, mine-clearing truck, and the Cougar, which was smaller and more versatile, and through the company's R & D efforts with Dr. Joynt several innovations and improvements such as the Cheetah, and Spaced Armor.