Mack Defense partners with armor manufacturer for defense contract

Mack Defense of Allentown said it has partnered with TenCate Advanced Armor USA to provide a force protection system for the Mack Granit-based M917A3 Heavy Dump Truck (HDT) and other Mack Defense vehicle platforms.  

TenCate provided design and engineering support to Mack Defense to equip the M917A3 HDT with a force protection system that protects occupants against threats in hostile environments. 

“Mack Defense is proud to have partnered with TenCate Advanced Armor USA,” said David Hartzell, president, Mack Defense. “The M917A3 HDT’s armored cab is a terrific demonstration of TenCate’s advanced engineering capabilities for optimized survivability solutions.” 

The capabilities of TenCate Advanced Armor USA in survivability design is a spin-off of TenCate’s experience in working with passive armor solutions, blast protection and active blast mitigation. Experience in addressing those three threats, which push armor solutions to the limit, has provided TenCate with an in-depth understanding of the materials and solutions required to develop force protection systems. 

The first application of this cab is the M917A3 Heavy Dump Truck. The U.S. Army awarded Mack Defense a firm-fixed-price $296 million contract in May 2018 to produce up to 683 M917A3 HDTs. Based on the commercially available Mack Granite model, the Mack Defense M917A3 HDT has been optimized to meet the demanding requirements of the U.S. Army including heavier-duty rear axles, all-wheel drive, increased suspension ride height and other ruggedized features.