Pierce Awarded $4.5 Million  Water Tender Army Contract

Pierce Manufacturing Inc. has been awarded a five-year, firm fixed-price contract worth $4.5 million by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) for the production of 10 water tender vehicles.

The vehicle is built on the Oshkosh Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) platform and is called a HEWATT. Company officials said the initial order could lead to a total of 119 vehicles under the contract with an estimated total value of $56 million. The vehicles are scheduled for delivery beginning in June 2008. 

The five-year contract was awarded after four HEWATT vehicles were delivered to and evaluated by TACOM at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona earlier this year.  

The HEWATT is designed as a multi-purpose water distributor, capable of providing structural and airfield crash/rescue support alongside the Pierce Tactical Fire Fighting Truck (TFFT). 

The HEWATT can operate under extreme conditions and in a broad variety of terrain, ranging from secondary roads to cross-country. The HEWATT water tender is built to support the TFFT while providing supplementary fire suppression capabilities. 

“Earlier this year TACOM put four of our water tenders to the test. This contract is a direct result of the HEWATT’s performance and reliability in those tests,” said Wilson Jones, president of Pierce Manufacturing. “This is among the largest U.S. Army contracts received by Pierce, and we look forward to fulfilling TACOM’s need for powerful and reliable water tenders used to help protect our soldiers.”

Each HEWATT is each equipped with a 2,500 gallon integrated water tank, a 500 gpm single-stage pump, a 50 gallon foam cell, a 250 gpm front bumper mounted turret/monitor, a Detroit Diesel 8V92TA electronic engine, two-person seating, an 8-by-8 axle configuration, an Oshkosh two-speed transfer case and LED lighting.

 

Pierce will build 10 HEMTT water tenders for the U.S. Army TACOM Division.

Pierce, a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corporation based in Appleton, Wis., is the leading North American manufacturer of custom fire apparatus, including pumpers, aerials, rescue trucks, wildland trucks, minipumpers, elliptical tankers and homeland security apparatus. Pierce designs its own foam systems and was the first company to introduce the Side Roll Protection System to fire apparatus.

For more information go to www.piercemfg.com.