3SOF

I am pissed 

Force Protection's Friend Becomes a Foe
By Melissa Davis
Senior Writer
8/8/2007 11:09 AM EDT
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/newsanalysis/manufacturing/10373072.html

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Force Protection's (FRPT) chief ally, General Dynamics (GD) , is starting to look more like a formidable foe.

Up to now, Force Protection and General Dynamics have worked together as a team to snag big contracts for Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles. This week, however, General Dynamics landed a $339 million order for 600 MRAP vehicles on its own.

Moreover, that order calls for heavy-duty Category II vehicles -- a class of MRAP vehicles previously dominated by Force Protection's celebrated Cougar.

Force Protection's stock plummeted 12% to $16 on Wednesday due to the stunning setback. The shares have lost nearly half of their value this summer as competitive pressures have mounted.

"The award is clearly a negative for FRPT, which now faces another Category II competitor ahead of large MRAP orders in 2008," Thomas Weisel Partners analyst David Gremmels admitted on Wednesday. "As a result of this new reality, we are lowering our Cougar market-share assumption for MRAP from 40% to 33% for 2007-2008."

Gremmels lowered that same target less than a month ago, when Armor Holdings, a rival now owned by BAE Systems, snagged a surprising MRAP win. Until then, Gremmels had projected that Force Protection's Cougar would represent at least half of all vehicles ordered under the multibillion-dollar MRAP program.

"Force Protection's Cougar vehicle dominates the Category II MRAP vehicle market, being the only contractor awarded volume production since testing wrapped up at Aberdeen," Gremmels wrote at the time. "Although our model has lost some of its conservatism by the addition of an unexpected contender to the production competition, we continue to believe it is achievable."

While now backing away from that call, Gremmels continues to maintain his overweight rating on Force Protection's shares. He views the stock as especially attractive following the latest selloff.

Still, even Gremmels admits that the rules of the MRAP competition -- which once seemed to favor Force Protection -- have clearly changed.

"We believe the MRAP acquisition strategy has evolved as the Department of Defense struggles under intense political pressure to get as many vehicles fielded as soon as possible," wrote Gremmels, whose firm makes a market in Force Protection's securities. "This has resulted in the original intent of having industry focus on two or three of the best designs transforming into a free-for-all, with orders seemingly going to all players that passed testing at Aberdeen and can make a case for production capacity."

As a relatively young company with a spotted production record, Force Protection could further lose its competitive edge. Indeed, rival Navistar (NAVZ.PK) -- an established player with a long history of mass producing commercial vehicles -- has already overtaken Force Protection as this year's biggest MRAP winner so far.

Navistar's stock, up 2.4% to $61.40 on Wednesday and hovering in the upper end of its 52-week range, has handily outperformed Force Protection's in a reflection of the changing landscape.

Considering doing a Cramer "mo back" and do an all in right now.


Should not have been a surprise. The RG-31 is the grandfather of FRPT, and the DoD has been buying them all along. They have just partnered to produce them at 100 vehicles per month. FRPT had to partner to get its production above 100 vehicles per month also.

I know it looks compromising and a conflict. But this is a governement contract. So all General Dynamics has to do is prove it is not compromising the government in its business conflicts which may arise. Leaving the business conflicts to civil court. But assume it is just a compromise and not a conflict. Or General Dynamics would not do it or get away with it.

Below it says Congress officially blessed a shift of 1,160 million dollars to MRAP. Subtract today's 338.7 million. Who gets the remaining 821.3 million? Navistar and General Dynamics contracts are written for vehicles to be delivered in October by March of 2008.

Cheetah enters production in Q4 2007 plus January and February's production can still be contracted for. It is the only card I see for FRPT because it brings the price point of a Cat I Cougar down to the competition's price point in the Cheetah.

The second story below which I cannot post because it is a pay site says that MRAP testing is continueing and preparing for MRAP II testing. The current MRAP testing is being done in three phases.

The first phase or blast testing to see how much punishment it can take is complete. Vehicles for phase two are there now. Phase two testing will be an objective view of how it is built and how it will perform.

Phase three they will review all the results and decide about the tests and vehicles. So yes the Cheetah may will still be in there, but what are they waiting for? They have announced ASVs and OSH's Alpha rejected. Cheetah?


Congress OKs MRAP Reprogramming; Additional Production Orders
Expected
Aug. 7, 2007 -- Congress has officially blessed the Pentagon's July
17
request to shift $1.16 billion between accounts to procure additional
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, setting the stage for
additional production orders of as many as 725 blast-proof trucks.
Story length: 345 words.


http://defense.iwpnewsstand.com/newsstand_latest.asp


ABERDEEN COMMANDER SAYS MRAP II WON'T SLOW ONGOING MRAP I TESTING
Inside the Army - 8/6/2007
As Aberdeen Test Center undertakes the second phase of testing for the
base Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program, testers are also
readying for MRAP II vehicle evaluation.


http://defense.iwpnewsstand.com/newsstand_latest.asp

Force Protection Inc
Force Protection Rises as Earnings Beat Estimates (Update1)

By Edmond Lococo

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Force Protection Inc., the largest builder of blast-resistant vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps, rose as much as 7.8 percent after the company's second- quarter profit topped analysts' estimates.

The stock gained $1.02, or 7.1 percent, to $15.40 at 11:53 a.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Ladson, South Carolina-based Force said yesterday after U.S. markets closed that second-quarter net income surged almost 23-fold to $9.63 million, or 14 cents a share, from $424,047, or 1 cent, a year earlier.

Demand for the company's Cougar and Buffalo vehicles for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan lifted per-share profit past 12 cents a share, the average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Force was the first company to deliver blast-resistant trucks for combat use in 2003. It is now one of seven companies building them and the largest as measured by deliveries.

``They are going to get these vehicles out as fast as they can,'' Joseph Maxa, an analyst at Dougherty & Co. in Minneapolis, said in an interview. ``As the company gets capacity up to a certain level, the military will support them with orders to keep production at that level.''

Maxa estimates monthly manufacturing at the company's Ladson plant is at 100 trucks a month now, and will rise to 150 a month by the end of the year. He said the company could get its next ``small'' truck order ``soon,'' and didn't project how large the award would be. Maxa rates the shares ``buy'' and doesn't own any.

Force Shipped

Force shipped a total of 229 Cougar and Buffalo trucks in the second quarter, up from 64 a year earlier.

``This quarter confirms our commitment to increasing capacity for the best-protected vehicles for our troops,'' Michael Aldrich, Force Protection's vice president for government relations, said in an interview. ``We are not only getting better at deliveries, we're becoming more profitable in the process.''

Sales more than doubled to $134.7 million. Revenue fell short of the average estimate of $144.3 million from the Bloomberg survey.
Sales missed estimates partly because some June vehicle deliveries were late and shipped in July, David Gremmels, a New York-based analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners, wrote in a note to clients. Gremmels had projected quarterly sales of $148 million, while Dougherty's Maxa had predicted $147 million.

Strong Outlook

``Long-term outlook remains strong,'' wrote Gremmels, who rates the shares ``overweight'' and doesn't own any. ``Stronger- than-expected margin performance and ability to quickly make up the handful of deliveries that slipped out of 2Q increases our confidence that the company can execute on its aggressive planned production ramp.''

At the end of June, Force Protection had a backlog of 1,662 trucks, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. That includes 1,558 Cougars and 104 Buffalos. Force shares production of the Cougar via a joint venture with Falls Church, Virginia- based General Dynamics Corp., while building the Buffalo on its own. The backlog is adequate to carry Force through about February 2008, Aldrich said in a phone interview yesterday. As it takes about six months from order to delivery, due to the need to secure raw materials, Force will need its next award soon to avoid a gap in production early next year, Aldrich said.

Close to Wall

``We're dangerously close to hitting a wall,'' Aldrich said. ``When you have to order things six months in advance to get them in a delivery state, to only have seven months of backlog is dangerously close to backing off our ramp-up schedule.''

About two-thirds of the six-month delivery time is needed for material procurement, he said.
Dougherty's Maxa estimates the company will probably get an award in the near-term that would carry them through March, and further larger orders may come as early as October to stretch production further into 2008.

``There will be orders to sustain production,'' Maxa said. ``More funding is coming.''

link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=FRPT:US&sid=aWQlmLHdurtE

 


Force Protection's bottom line gets a lift
Military demand for bomb-resistant armored trucks boosts profit
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last Update: 2:03 PM ET Aug 10, 2007

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Force Protection Inc. got a lift Friday after better-than-expected financial results for the second quarter showed increased demand for its heavily armored trucks used in military settings.
During the June quarter, the Ladson, S.C., company FRPT  said it sold 17 of its Buffalo series armored truck -- a behemoth weighing 22.7 metric tons that's currently being used in Iraq to protect troops from roadside bombs and missile attacks.
The company also sold 212 of its medium-size Cougar trucks, used from troop transportation and command and control. Altogether, the company said produced 229 vehicles in the recent quarter, compared to the 285 produced for all of 2006.
The U.S. military has said it wants to purchase thousands of these trucks -- better known as MRAP, or mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles -- to use in place of the more vulnerable Humvee. Recently, the Defense Department requested the transfer of $1.2 billion in existing funds for an additional 2,650 MRAP vehicles, bringing the total size of its order to 6,415.
Force Protection is in a joint-venture partnership with General Dynamics Corp.  to help increase production to meet the government's demands.
The venture has helped secure several new contracts, Chief Executive Gordon McGilton said. "During the quarter, we announced that we had been awarded contracts totaling $711 million to produce 1,455 vehicles for the U.S Marine Corps' (MRAP) vehicle program," he said.
The competition for government contracts is getting more crowded, however: Textron Inc. , OshKosh Truck Corp. and even General Dynamics itself are all maneuvering for a piece of the business.

Shares of Force Protection have more than doubled in the past year, and recently traded at $15.40, up 7% on the session. General Dynamics also traded higher, up 6% to $78.70.
Margins show improvement
Late Thursday, Force Protection said it earned $32.8 million, or 14 cents a share in the second quarter, up from $10.2 million, or a penny a share, in the same period last year. Net sales rose 140%, reaching $134.7 million from $56.1 million in the year-ago second quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected, on average, quarterly earnings of 13 cents a share on revenue of $145 million.
Force Protection said gross margin widened to 24.3% in the recent quarter from 18.1% last year, primarily due to improved material and labor costs as well as the company's ability to leverage fixed costs as it expands production capacity.
Alexander Motamed, analyst at Thomas Weisel, found the results impressive.
"FRPT's stronger-than-expected margin performance and ability to quickly make up the handful of deliveries that slipped out of 2Q increases our confidence that the company can execute on its aggressive planned production ramp while improving operating performance," Motamed said in a note to clients.

See what I mean, todays contract was only through December, they still have January and February. Following suit, Navistar's and GD's contracts included January and February also.

Then there is Cheetah in Q4 plus January and February, that is five months production unaccounted for. Cheetah?

Close to Wall

``We're dangerously close to hitting a wall,'' Aldrich said. ``When you have to order things six months in advance to get them in a delivery state, to only have seven months of backlog is dangerously close to backing off our ramp-up schedule.''

About two-thirds of the six-month delivery time is needed for material procurement, he said.
Dougherty's Maxa estimates the company will probably get an award in the near-term that would carry them through March, and further larger orders may come as early as October to stretch production further into 2008.

``There will be orders to sustain production,'' Maxa said. ``More funding is coming.''

link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=FRPT:US&sid=aWQlmLHdurtE

from IV (thanks trustthetape)

What did earnings tell us?

The following is my objective analysis of Q2 results based on the FACTS reported in the 10Q.

1. Is revenue continuing to trend up?  The past 4 quarter, revenues have trended up nicely (with a hiccup in 2006 Q3) as follows:

2006 Q2: $56m
2006 Q3: $42m
2007 Q4: $63m
2007 Q1: $100m

So, will the positive growth in revenue continue? Yes
Will FRPT have another $100+m quarter? Yes
There were 12 Cougars delivered late (from June into July).  That represents approximately $6m in revenue.
Analyst revenue estimates range considerably from $111 - 165m with the average being $145m.  How much did the $6m in delayed revenue impact revenue for the quarter and did it throw revenue outside of the analyst range?  Revenue came in at $135m, $10m below analyst consensus estimates.  In addition to the 12 late Cougars, there were In addition, there was nearly $12m in "finished goods" that could not be counted in Q2 revenue because the govt had not completed the DD 250.  Here is the exerpt from the 10Q:

"As of June 30, 2007 there were vehicles which had been inspected and accepted by the customer but the customer had not taken title (signed Form DD250). These vehicles were accounted for as finished goods. "

On one hand, the revenue shortfall was a disappointment but on the other it appears that Q3 is off to a jump start with the 12 late Cougars (est. revenue of $6m) reported to be completed in the first 10 days of July and the $12m of "finished goods" becoming Q3 revenue. I guess we can assume Q3 revenue will be at least $18m ))

2. Will Gross Margins continue to be solid?  The past 4 quarters, gross margins have ranged from 18-nearly 22%.  Can FRPT continue to achieve gross margins in this range while ramping up production?

Gross margins came in at 24% and was a pleasant surprise.  While I would have been content with 18-20% and very happy with 20=22@, 24% is just phenomenal.


3. In Q1, FRPT made a sizable (by comparison purposes) investment in R&D ($4.8m in Q1 vs $3.2m for all of 2006) for development of the Cheetah.  Is FRPT continuing to make investments in product development, whether it be the Cheetah or other products (e.g, EFP technology)?

Q3 R&D was $3.3m so the company continues to make investments in the development of the Cheetah - consistent with the purchase of the Roxboro facility for Cheetah production.  From the 10Q:
"The increase in both periods is due primarily to increased expenditures related to the development of the Cheetah vehicle. The second quarter of 2007 costs are down from the first quarter of 2007 due to the heavy purchase of materials for the Cheetah development in the first quarter of 2007. "

4.  In the past, FRPT has had a number of one time charges.  While fees associated with the PP are anticipated will the company start showing discipline to get past these types of charges?

The only one time charge was the anticipated PP fees. Fortunately, the PP fees are now in the rear view mirror.  Hopefully this is the last of the one-time charges for some time.

5. To this point, record net income (ignoring the benefit for favorable tax treatment) is around $4.6m.  Will FRPT report record net income for the quarter?

Net income (after taxes) came in at $9.6m, over twice the prior record net income.

6. Analysts EPS estimates vary widely from .08-.17 with an average of .13.  I'm anticipating a negative impact of .05 from the PP fees and the 12 Cougars that were delayed from late June to early July.  How well did the analysts do in predicting FRPT EPS for the quarter and did the .05 (my anticipation) throw EPS outside the analyst range?

I was pleasantly surprised to see EPS come in at .14, .01 over analysts expectations (Had it not been for the PP charts and the 12 delayed vehicles and the unsigned DD 250s, EPS would have come in well over .20.  This is encouraging as we look forward to Q3 results.

7. In Q1, FRPT delivered a record 195 vehicles.  Will Q2 establish a new production record and indicate a continued ramp up of production?

As anticipated, Q2 production was another record with 229 vehicles delivered to customers.  As mentioned above, Q3 is off to a good start and, barring unforeseen circumstances will be another production record.  The challenge for the company is maximizing production and staying on or ahead of the schedule established with the MRAP program office so that additional and larger orders are secured.

8. At the end of Q1, FRPT had a production backlog of approximately 187 vehicle. Since then, the company has received a number of new orders (1000 MRAP order, 5 Buffalo and 5 Cougar Canadian Order, 22 ILAVs, 455 MRAP order).  Of these orders, FRPT issued an order to GD to produce 235.  What is the current backlog?  In comparing production capacity to production backlog, how long will it take FRPT to work off the current backlog to put it in position for another MRAP order?

Current backlog is reported as 1662 vehicles.  Escalating production by both FRPT and GD will be critical to work the backlog down so that the next MRAP orders can be secured.  It is anticipated that the FD JV will be producing 200 vehicles per month at some point this summer and growing to 400 vehicles in Feb 2008.  Assuming those increases come to be, FRPT should be in a position to receive a sizeable follow-on order in Q4 when 2008 govt funds become available.  Beyond the recent order for 125 vehicles, I'll be very surprised if an additional order is received before Oct.

So, for me, this quarterly report will be telling to confirm the positive trend in revenue, production, backlog, net income, etc and then use that data to gain a better understanding of what to expect in subsequent quarters.

In summary, Q2 was an excellent quarter for the company.  Yes, revenue was slightly below expectations but gross margins were well beyond expectations, production was solid, backlog is significant, net income was a record and EPS beat expectations - even with a $1.7m one time PP charge.  This quarter demonstrates strong management performance and sets the company up for a strong 2nd half of record production, record revenue and record profits.  That, IMHO, is a good thing as it makes the company attractive to investors who value solid financial results and exceptional growth.
All of the above IMHO and not meant as a substitute for your own due diligence.

&

nice video:
http://wral.com/business/video/1599253

This is a down to earth article.


Force Protection an attractive buyout target: analyst
3:52p ET August 13, 2007 (MarketWatch)

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Force Protection Inc. shares remain inexpensive ahead of a U.S. military procurement bid that could lead to a deal to replace the popular Humvee, making the company an attractive acquisition target, C.E. Unterberg analyst James McIlree said Monday, in a note to investors.

The Landson, S.C., maker of MRAPs, or mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, will likely bid for the military procurement seeking 8,000 category I vehicles with its Cheetah series, McIlree said. The Cheetah is a light-armored vehicle with greater mobility than the company's Cougar and Buffalo series now used in Iraq and Afghanistan. See full story.

If a company bid for the military procurement is successful, it could be the precursor for a joint light tactical vehicle, which is targeted to replace the military's Humvee fleet, he said.

Meanwhile, Force Protection shares have been trading at about 15 times the low end of analysts' earnings-per-share estimate for 2008, or seven times the high end of analyst estimates, McIlree said.

"All to say, the stock is cheap virtually no matter what EPS assumptions one makes...This is the type of environment the primes wait for to make acquisitions," McIlree said. He reiterated his $32 price target based on 23 times his 2008 earnings estimate of $1.40 a share.

Shares recently changed hands at $16.45, up 5.8%.

Aside from making a bid on its own, another possibility is that Force Protection makes a bid through its 50-50 joint venture with General Dynamics Corp. , but that would be with the heavier Cougar series, which seems unlikely to be chosen, McIlree said.

"We believe the Cheetah can be an effective entrant in this competition and

improve the company's market share in the...round of procurements," he said.

McIlree noted risk for shares achieving his price target include difficulties for the company in obtaining supplies to meet demand and a potential reduction of forces in Iraq.

McIlree doesn't own any Force Protection shares, but his firm does have investment banking relations with the company.

Well things have cooled down. All the contracts have been priced in for 2007 at 6,415 vehicles. Now we must wait for the Fiscal 2008 budget in October.

MRAP II testing has been moved from January 2008 to September 17, 2007. So I guess they may shift production contracts from MRAP I to MRAP II without skipping a beat.

Pentagon Concludes FY-07 MRAP Orders With Award to Force Protection
DefenseAlert - 8/10/2007
Aug. 10, 2007 -- The Pentagon today announced the final round of production orders of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for fiscal year 2007, tapping Force Protection Industries to build an additional 125 vehicles in a deal worth $70 million.

http://defense.iwpnewsstand.com/defensenewsstand_spclsubj.asp?s=ied

Barrons update:
Armored-Vehicle Maker Ready to Roll
By ALEXANDER EULE

FOR INVESTORS SEEKING TO SHIELD THEIR investment portfolio in a battered market, Force Protection and its line of mine-resistant vehicles may offer a safe way forward.

Force Protection, based in Ladson, S.C., has made a name for itself in the last five years by building a new class of mine-resistant military vehicles that offer U.S. soldiers vastly improved protection against roadside bombs, which now account for a majority of American fatalities in Iraq. Since delivering the first mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles to Iraq in 2003, Force Protection has sparked a burgeoning program that the Department of Defense now calls its "highest acquisition priority."

Despite the military's push for as many vehicles as it can get, Force Protection stock looks attractive thanks to investors who have nervously sold off shares as competitors sought a piece of its lucrative market. Force Protection has the only battle-tested vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, with new entrants just beginning to deliver MRAP trucks under the Pentagon's program.

"Force Protection defined the market in the United States," Thomas Weisel Partners analyst David Gremmels says of MRAPs.

If the military has its way, the U.S. government will spend over $10 billion on MRAPs between this year and next. And industry observers say 2008 spending alone could ultimately approach $8 billion to $12 billion, as the armed services look to order as many as 23,000 mine-resistant vehicles. MRAPs have already become the Pentagon's third-largest acquisition program, behind only missile defense and the so-called joint strike fighter. Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an assistant secretary of defense from 1981 to 1985, calls the program's rapid growth "unprecedented."

"Usually it takes a decade for something like this to happen," he says, noting that the missile-defense program emerged in 1983 and the joint strike fighter in 1993.

MRAPs enjoy nonpartisan support from congressmen clamoring to get behind a program free of offensive weaponry and singularly focused on saving U.S. lives.

At a Glance: Force Protection:
Stock Price: $16.26
52-Wk High:$31.16
52-Wk Low: $5.75
Market Cap: $1.11 billion
Est. 2008 EPS:    $1.44
2008 P/E: 11.3
Est. Long-Term EPS Growth*: 30%
Est. ('08/'07) EPS Growth: 118%
Revenue (trailing 12 months): $340 million
Dividend Yield: None
Chief Executive: Gordon McGilton
Headquarters:    Ladson, S.C.
* Based on analyst estimates looking ahead three to five years.
Sources: Force Protection Website, Thomson Financial/Baseline.

"There is no member of Congress who opposes increased funding for this program," says SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Chris Donaghey, "even if they're opposed to our presence in Iraq."

As of Aug. 10, the U.S. government had ordered 1,963 vehicles from Force Protection, or 31% of its total MRAP procurement, according to Congressional Research Service. Still, after expecting the company to dominate MRAP sales, Wall Street has had to adjust its expectations with companies like Navistar International and Armor Holdings (now a subsidiary of BEA Systems) winning awards. As a result, Force Protection shares are down 48% from a May high, and the stock now trades at an undemanding 11.3 times analysts' earnings estimates for fiscal 2008.
Michael Alpert, managing director and portfolio manager of the J. & W. Seligman Small Company Growth Team, says the selloff has presented a buying opportunity.
Alpert calls investors' lack of faith "shortsighted" and says "huge funding" still exists for MRAP-related programs. Force Protection also got negative publicity from a recent Pentagon inspector general report that showed the company had missed delivery on promised vehicles back in 2003 and 2004.

"We had the founder's advantage but we also had the founder's injuries or pain," Force Protection Chief Executive Officer Gordon McGilton tells Barron's Online. Among early challenges, he cites ramping up capacity and teaching the government about the new class of vehicles and their potential.

McGilton says the company has now been "completely retooled." After producing 11 vehicles in all of 2003, Force Protection built 114 in July and says it will be at 300 per month by the first quarter of 2008. The company's 17-ton Cougar model sells for approximately $400,000 while the 23-ton Buffalo is around $800,000.

A third, lighter-but-faster vehicle called the Cheetah is in production, and the company says it anticipates making 2,000 of them in 2008. The Cheetah will go for about $300,000, according to Michael Aldrich, Force Protection's vice president for marketing and government relations.
Increased production capacity and the 8-ton Cheetah, which holds the promise of eventually replacing the Pentagon's 52,000 combat-configured Humvees, are helping to drive growth predictions. According to Thomson Financial, analysts project a long-term growth rate of 30% with earnings per share expected to be 66 cents in 2007 and $1.44 in 2008, up from 39 cents last year.

"The market has yet to really even give the company credit for the Cheetah vehicle," SunTrust's Donaghey says. Gremmels at Thomas Weisel, meanwhile, has assumed a conservative 800 Cheetah deliveries in his 2008 model.

Donaghey has a price target of $36, while Gremmels recently established a $22 target.

With competitors' vehicles coming due, McGilton says he's anxious to see whether they can meet their quotas but adds "we're very comfortable with the promises we've made."
Seligman's Alpert points out there's likely to still be volatility with the stock as the market reacts to Defense Department awards. And the possibilities of losing such awards or an expedited withdrawal from Iraq are risks for Force Protection.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon indicated its MRAP shipments to Iraq would be slower than expected, but the delays involve postproduction work and transportation logistics that shouldn't directly impact orders. McGilton expresses little doubt there will be a long-term market for the company's product. "The government will continue to take all the vehicles that we can build," he says.

"The army trains as though there's a war all the time," McGilton says, looking beyond Iraq. "And they will use the equipment that they need to go to war for that training."

FRPT: Short Interest UP 10.7% to 16.5M in Aug 2007
Friday , August 24, 2007 16:17ET

According to new short interest data from NASDAQ, short interest for Force Protection, Inc (NasdaqSC: FRPT) INCREASED 10.7% to 16,480,458 shares for the month ended mid-August, 2007.

SYMBOL      JULY          AUGUST          CHANGE       %CHANGE          DAYS/COVER
--------   -------------   -------------   -------------  ------------  ----------
FRPT          14,881,117      16,480,458      +1,599,341       +10.75%           8

Based on FRPT's 20-day average daily share volume of 2,102,655, it would require approximately 8 day(s) of buying to cover this short interest.

It may be time, institutional ownership is up too.

thanks amstocks82:
MRAP and MRAP II – Production and Quality Dilemmas

The military began purchasing small numbers of Mine Resistant and Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles shortly after the Iraq war began. MRAP vehicles proved to be very effective. In 2005, the Cougar and Buffalo MRAP vehicles manufactured by Force Protection had survived large numbers of IED and mine explosions with no fatal injuries.

In February of 2005, due to the increasing number of IEDs and mine related injuries, the marines requested 1169 MRAP vehicles. Instead of MRAP vehicles, the marines received more up-armored Humvees. Even with additional armor, the Humvee was no match for IEDs and mines. Therefore, in mid-2006, the marines forwarded the same request for MRAP vehicles to the Joint Chiefs. The Joint Chiefs approved the request and the MRAP program officially began.

The potential size of the MRAP program quickly grew from 1169 vehicles to 20,500 vehicles with a goal of acquiring over 4000 MRAP vehicles by the end of 2007 and to acquire the rest over five years. The main problem faced by the military in acquiring MRAP vehicles is that they wanted to purchase 4000 vehicles in 2007 but no one had the capability of manufacturing so many.

Therefore, the military opened up the MRAP program to competitive bids by any interested manufacturer who could make MRAP vehicles. The idea was to get industry involved and the industrial production of vehicles increased.

The two criteria for issuing MRAP contracts were:

1) The Contractor or Contractors vehicle systems that demonstrate the best overall performance in PVT testing (with survivability being the highest priority)

2) The Contractor or Contractors that demonstrate the greatest capability to produce and deliver vehicles with the shortest ramp up time and greatest maximum production capacity, in order to meet the urgent delivery requirements for these vehicles

Testing and Ordering MRAP vehicles

The Military soon faced another dilemma – if the military were going to acquire 4000 vehicles by the end of 2007, and was ordering prototype vehicles from the manufacturers towards the end of January 2007, how do they get the prototypes, test them and then order vehicles and get them in production fast enough to get 4000 vehicles by the end of 2007?

The only answer was to order vehicles from manufacturers that had a vehicle that the military thought would probably pass testing. In February 2007, they ordered 125 vehicles from Force Protection, 90 vehicles from BAE, 60 vehicles from PVI and 100 vehicles from Oshkosh and 20 vehicles from General Dynamics.

Complete testing of military armored vehicles would normally have taken several months but due to the need to build 4000 vehicles by the end of the year, testing needed to be fast. Therefore, the plan was that testing would last approximately 60 to 90 days. Much of the testing would be to test survivability of the vehicle but due to time limitations could not be comprehensive. The testing was further complicated because many companies delivered their prototypes late or with poor quality. Some of the vehicles when finally delivered required multiple changes to pass testing.

At the end of the testing, the military should have been able to on a priority basis order vehicles which were most survivable followed next in priority by manufacturing capability. But due to the priority of getting 4000 vehicles in Iraq, the military ordered all the vehicles that could be manufactured by 5 vendors whose vehicle was found to be suitable during testing.

The five vendors found suitable for follow on contracts after testing didn't include the vehicles from PVI and Oshkosh. It is unknown what the military will do with those 160 vehicles. The vehicles pre-ordered from BAE and GD required changes to be suitable for deployment. It is not clear if the vehicles from PVI and Oshkosh could be repaired.

The Navistar MaxxPro vehicle received the largest number of orders under MRAP. The MaxxPro design is based on putting a "V" hulled crew compartment on top of one of International's common truck chassis. (Navistar is a division of International Military and Government.) The use of a common truck chassis ensures manufacturability of the MaxxPro. The crew compartment uses less welding than other MRAP vehicles and is bolted together for ease of manufacturing. Its blast proof strength is provided by add-on-armor from Plasan Sasa.

Recently Navistar indicated that they could not get enough armor from Plasan Sasa and were ordering armor from various US manufacturers. Plasan Sasa is a well known armor manufacturer and the prototype MaxxPro vehicles were tested with that armor. Therefore, it is a concern that other perhaps inexperienced vendors will be providing the armor.

Navistar indicated that the armor supply problem would reduce the number of vehicles that they were going to deliver by the end of the year which means that the US government won't receive 4000 vehicles that they hoped to get. The new estimate is 3000 vehicles by the end of the year. But even this may be an over-estimate. Armored Holdings (now purchased by BAE) also received a large contract for their newly designed "Caiman" vehicle. The order for the Caiman was not received by AH until the middle of July and most MRAP manufacturers take 3 months to get some of the parts needed to manufacture their vehicles. Therefore, the production ramp-up for the Caiman will have to be extremely fast – faster than seems possible when compared to other vendors ramp-up speed.

Vendors for the MRAP program have a large incentive to overstate their production capacity. The more vehicle orders that they get, the less money left in the budget to order vehicles from another manufacturer. For manufacturers with new vehicles, getting large orders is extremely important to profitability and ramp-up rate.

If a manufacturers is dishonest in providing production capacity and ramp-up speed, they will get more contracts to fund the vehicle ramp-up and other vendors will get fewer contracts and will likely ramp-up slower. As a result, if there are dishonest vendors overstating their ability to manufacture vehicles, they have an advantage. This already brings up the question of whether or not Navistar knew Plasan Sasa could not provide sufficient armor on time to build the vehicles Navistar promised to the government?

There might be even more questions raised in the future about the orders. The Defense Department is behind on preparing new MRAP vehicles to be sent to Iraq. The military receives the MRAP vehicle and installs government equipment such as radios, weapons stations and etc. and then ships them to the combat area. Currently, the Defense department is taking longer than expected to install the military equipment even though almost all the MRAPs it has received are Cougars and Buffalos from Force Protection. When it starts receiving some of the new vehicles in large numbers, will it prepare the unproven vehicles such as the MaxxPro prior to proven vehicles such as the Cougar? And since all the vehicles can't be prepared, is it wise to order large numbers of unproven vehicles at least until comprehensive testing is done or the vehicle is proven in combat?

The Next Phase

The MRAP II program is a follow on program to the first MRAP program. In the MRAP II program, vehicles will face much more stringent testing including in depth testing of the armor that is used on the vehicles. An additional Explosively Formed Projectile (EFP) armor requirement was added.

The new MRAP program is open to current vendors and new vendors who have a vehicle. If new vendors get MRAP contracts, then the number and types of MRAP vehicles could grow in size to become unmanageable. The list of potential prime vendors for MRAP II contains the names of 20 companies.

It is also possible that the additional testing in MRAP II will uncover major issues with some of the vehicles that passed MRAP I testing but have not yet been in combat. The MRAP II program was announced prior to any of the new vehicles such as the Caiman, RG33 or MaxxPro being used in combat. If problems are found with any of these vehicle types, then the military may end up with hundreds of vehicles that should not have been purchased in the first place costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

For MRAP II, Force Protection has announced that their Joint Venture between General Dynamics called Force Dynamics will provide Cougars for their MRAP II CAT I and CAT II vehicle entry. Force Protection also indicated that they will directly bid the Cheetah for MRAP II. The Cheetah is Force Protection's newest vehicle that has been under development for several years. It is smaller and less expensive than other current MRAP vehicles but has the same type of mine and IED protection as the Cougar and Buffalo as well as available EFP protection. The Cheetah is seen more as a direct replacement for the Humvee due to the similarities in size between the two vehicles. The Cheetah is faster than other MRAP vehicles, smaller and more agile than other MRAP vehicles.

Some References:

Article from the, "Stars and Stripes" that discusses the vehicle ramp-up
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=48248

An article demonstrating incredible toughness of the Cougar when an unusually massive large mine explodes under the Cougar:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=639508

Recent article indicating survivability of MRAP vehicles – the MRAP that the Marines are talking about is the Cougar. Casualties in MRAP vehicles tend to be concussions, blown ear drums or broken bones. In Humvees, casualties tend to be more serious including death, and permanent life changing injuries.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-04-18-marines-new-vehicles_N.htm

Link for the MRAP II solicitation
http://www.fbo.gov/spg/DON/USMC/M67854/M6785407R5082/listing.html

An article about MRAP Delays:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070825/mrap_delays.html?.v=2

&

Force Protection, Inc. Facts Recent Stories & Links Page...

While much of this is old news to us many new investors may appreciate this info.

Here are some of the more exciting developments regarding FRPT...

Firstly, Mike Aldrich predicted 400%+ growth for Force Protection, Inc. in 2007. This kind of growth merits a much higher pps of at least $28- to $32- now.

The future growth of Force will be propelled by our "Cheetah" as General Conway loves them & expects to order them shortly. FRPT will produce 2000 Cheetahs in 2008 for minimal Revs of $660 million. With ILS (suppport) it will be $750 million. IF MSEFP Armor is added to these 2000 vehicles add approx. $300 more million. For a 2008 Rev increase of over 1 billion for just this vehicle line alone...

""""I'm excited about the latest addition to Force Protection's family of MRAP Vehicles, the Cheetah," U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway told the Marine Corps News, an internal publication of the Marine Corps, after the visit."""

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/07/gen_conway_takes_a_test_drive.asp

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2879605&C=mideast

http://www.forceprotection.net/

http://www.forceprotection.net/models/cheetah/

Link to Full Page Barron's Article released this weekend:

"""FRPT - This War Horse Looks Like a Winner"""

http://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=132&mid=2860442&pt=msg

*Story* "MRAP's now being tested at Aberdeen".
Since we are the only MRAP Manufacturer shipping vehicles...

Brogans comments about MRAP survivability were specifically
directed about our vehicles:

http://www.solanconews.com/Gov/Articles/2007/070826_MRAP.htm

We are the Only MRAP Manufacturer who has made a statement regarding being on schedule. As we know PVI, OSK & BAE had all made comments about them being late on deliveries:

"""Aldrich said Force Protection is not experiencing production delays and expects to stay on schedule the rest of the year.""" I expect NAVZ & AH & BAE to fail on their deliveries.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070825/mrap_delays.html?.v=2

FRPT 77% Institutional Ownership at Record Levels while large Share Blockholders also at a Record 427. Note last monthe we were at 66%. Also note Goldman Sach's is now reporting 7% Ownership of FRPT.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837275?q=frpt

1 Billion Dollars Worth of Recent Orders For Force Protection:

http://www.militaryindustrialcomplex.com/totals.asp?thisContractor=Force%20Protection

FRPT Products are so good we just sued a competitor for stealing our Trade Secrets:
Force Protection Inc. sues local rival Protected Vehicles Inc.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/aug/23/armored_warfare13741/

The British are Buying our "Mastiff Vehicles" and another order is expected shortly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6950691.stm

We are awaiting an approximate "Sole Source Order" for our "Buffalo" Vehicle in the amount of $150 million.

This could happen any week now.

http://www.forceprotection.net/models/buffalo/

Defense Link Article on MRAP's with mostly Force Protection, Inc. Vehicles:

http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2007/mrap/

The Night Of The Hunters - Story on MRAP's in Theater:

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55436&archive=true

There is approx. 1000 Force Protection Vehicles in Theater that to be brought up to MRAP2 Standards & will need to be retrofitted with our MSEFP Armor Retrofit at approx. 150k each.

To sum things up Force Protection is busier then ever & will sell the DOD whatever it builds therefore the forward growth both short & long term is phenomenal, note 400% 2007 growth expected alone.

charts:

from IV board:
SWOT Analysis

As a long term FRPT investor, I like to try and understand all aspects of my investment.  One way of doing that is by conducting a SWOT Analysis - reviewing the company Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats:

Strengths:

Products (Buff and Cougar specificly) with demonstrated success and a number of variants including the JERRV, HEV, ILAV, Mastiff and most recently the Cat I and Cat II MRAP plus the anticipated MRAP II program.   In addition, EFP protection capabilities have been developed and the Cheetah appears to be entering production in 2007.

Growth Potential - backlog is substantial and growing and new market opportunites with GSTAMIDS ($1b+ market), MRAP ($10b+ market), and Cheetah (TBD but appears to be about as much as a $45b market oppty) being substantial.

People - in particular mgmt with the likes of GM, DW, RP, VJ, etc and a growing workforce.  In addition, FRPT initiated a "share gain" program so that employees will share in the profits of the company

Production Expansion - although not yet fully proven, they appear to have a model that can be replicated.  Recent months have seen production expansion near 100 vehicles / month vs a total of 44 for all of Q1 2006.  The stated objective of the FD JV is 200 MRAP Cougars/month this summer and 400/month early in 2008.

Willingness/ability to partner - SPAR is proven, BAE for ILAV, Ultra is proven, AH exist but could be in jeopardy due to BAE acquisition and having their competing product,  FD JV (with GD) looks substantial but GD appears to have been slow to ramp for MRAP, Textron is under development.  Not clear if there will be any partners for Cheetah production.

Balance sheet - used to be a weakness but now with approximately $100m in cash and no debt looks to provide sufficient capital for growth and expansion

Reputation - has established reputation for excellence in close DoD/Military circles (particularly Marines but still developing repuation within Army, it appears) and this appears to be expanding to the investment community (witness ability to raise capital) and within the defense contractor community (witness partnerships).

Increasingly Diversified and Loyal Customer Base - US military, British, Iraqi forces, Canada - appears to be loyal to FRPT products and likely to expand given the opportunities summarized above.  Even with the favorable customer base, the market oppty is too large for FRPT to be the only product company for programs such as MRAP

South African license agreements - recently renewed for 5 years but it is unclear exactly how this agreement protects the interest of the company

Weaknesses:

Still the little guy in DoD circles - this makes winner large contracts more difficult and also makes lobbying more challenging; the GD JV (Force Dynamics) in some respects appears to offset this for the MRAP opportunity although the size of he opportunity and timeline for delivery is letting competitors in the door

Some contract penalties / financial filing issues / other one time issues in the past - can they overcome these in future contracts?

Have not yet demonstrated strong profitability - last 4 Q's were slightly to moderately profitable and the most recent Q's demonstrated strong profitability and we should start to see the transition to even stronger profitability going forward

As with most growth, production ramp up has required significant capital

Opportunities (there are more comprehensive lists here for contract opportunities but to summarize):

MRAP - up to 5 years, 20,000+ vehicle, approx $15b market opportunity.  To date, FD JV has won a substantial percentage of the awarded market and the competition will be fierce for the remaining market with wins likely coming thru increased production capability.

GSTAMIDS - $1b market opportunity

Cheetah - market of up to 150k vehicles; likely 15k initially to replace the Humvees at approx $300k each = $4.5b oppty.  The Cheetah could be part of the longer term JLTV program, perhaps part of the MMPV program or even the MRAP II program.

Blast Manipulation Technology/EFP Technology - have not seen any signs of this being leveraged yet but something to keep an eye on.  The EFP up-armor solution is estimated at $150k per vehicle.

ILS - long term revenue stream that gives FRPT a razor/razor blade business model.  Some estimate ILS will, over time, yield revenue 5-15x that of the original vehicle

US as well as non-US customers who will recognize the excellence of the vehicles.  As competing products make their way into production as part of the MRAP program, FRPT is likely to experience a smaller % of market share but with a larger and growing market - yielding a sustained growth rate over a longer period of time

Recent US Readiness Tests for domestic IED threats is further indication that the need to take IEDs serious as a long term threat to the US is real and the need for FRPT vehicles long term and growing (as unfortunate as that is for those of us who prefer peace)

Threats:

Potential partnership issues could develop.  For example, BAE recently acquired AH so two partners are now one and its not clear how this will impact FRPT going forward

Given the dollar value of programs like MRAP, other defense contractors have taken considerable interest in the program and are developing competing vehicles.  To date, FRPT vehicles have performed well in the field compared to other either less successful or yet to be proven solutions. However, there is no guarantee that the FRPT vehicles will continue to be the only strong performer.

The insurgents in Iraq have demonstrated the ability to develop an  IED powerful enough to cause fatalities in FRPT vehicles (Buffalo specificly, as I understand it).  This demonstates that the threat is growing and FRPT will need to adjust their technology to the evolving threat. 

Ability to manage growth will be a challenge - particularly with multiple production partners, a growing workforce and a multitude of customers

Sufficient capital for growth  - recent capital raise ($152m appears to address this issue but the rapid growth will continue to require significant capital and will eat into the $152m over time). In addition, the recent purchase of the  Roxboro facility for expanded Cougar production and initial Cheetah production will utilize significant capital.

World peace could break out tomorrow - not likely anytime soon; witness the recent military movement toward the middle east, the expansion of troops in Iraq, and the proliferation of EFPs

While the future for FRPT looks bright, there are always the possibilities of bumps in the road.  It's best for investors to understand those just as they need to understand strengths and opportunities as they collectively impact both near term and longer term share price.


All of the above IMHO and with best wishes to all regardless of your trading / investing approach.

chart:

JUST AWESOME !!!

Longer Term Aerospace & Defense Outlook Reviewed in Wall Street Transcript Report
Thursday August 30, 2:09 pm ET

67 WALL STREET, New York--August 30, 2007--The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Commercial Aerospace & Defense issue, a report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 37-page feature industry commentary through in-depth interviews with 2 analysts, and top management from 7 firms. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered Aerospace/Defense expectations, Air traffic demand, Commercial aerospace risks, Defense in the long term, Demand in Asia, Part Development, Alliances and Partnerships, Homeland security and Industrial readiness, Growth in the European Market, The growing security industry, Big Brother concerns, Stock Picks, Stocks to Avoid.

Companies include: Boeing (BA), Alcoa (AA), Precision Castparts (PCP), Embraer (ERJ), Bombardier (BBD:TO), BE Aerospace (BEAV), Spirit AeroSystems (SPR), GKN (GKNLY), General Dynamics (GD), Force Protection (FRPT), EDO Corporation (EDO), Alliant TechSystems (ATK), Ladish (LDSH), Rolls-Royce (RYCEY), HEICO (HEI), and Goodrich (GR). Analysts Include: Peter Arment, JSA Research, Inc.; J.B. Groh, D.A. Davidson & Co.

In the following brief excerpt from the 37-page report, Peter Arment discusses the longer-term outlook for the sector and for investors.

TWST: Let's shift over to the defense side. What's the longer-term outlook there? You mentioned resetting and refurbishing.

Mr. Arment: The budget continues to increase and a lot of that is tied to the global war on terror. Supplemental bills are not only funding the War, but addressing the repairing and replacement of equipment. The latter point is really focused on the Army and the Marines. Everything from vehicles, helicopters, precision weapons, ammunition, troop uniforms, body armor and other force protection equipment are on the list of receiving higher funding. Any company that has exposure to the Army is going to benefit regardless of a change in the administration in 2008. The political aspect of the defense budget will still exist, but in a post 9/11 environment, a strong national security theme still trumps social issues. A Democratic President is still seen to be weaker on defense spending by Wall Street, so some multiple compression is likely to occur. But given current valuations, the downside seems limited.

The biggest area of growth beyond 2008 is within armored vehicles. Humvees are going to be replaced along with a number of existing tactical vehicles. The Humvees that were utilized in Iraq have been found to be very vulnerable to the IEDs. As an interim step, the Army and the Marines have been buying MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles, which has become the Defense Department's number one priority. This has been a very fast evolving program that started with just demand for a few hundred vehicles back in 2004 and now the request is for well over 20,000. MRAPs cost anywhere from $0.5 million to over $1 million a piece. We are talking about a $20 plus billion program that's come out of nowhere from five years ago. There are only a handful of companies that are delivering these vehicles.

TWST: Who are the beneficiaries?

Mr. Arment: I think the primary one that we have focused on is General Dynamics (GD). They are as well positioned as anybody in the armored vehicle business. They are delivering direct and also with a joint venture partner, Force Protection (FRPT). Force Protection has been a very high flying company, essentially being the only MRAP company until this year. The joint venture is called Force Dynamics.

TWST: As talk increases about pulling out of Iraq or downsizing the force there, what does that mean for this space, if anything?

Mr. Arment: I think that's more of a headline risk when you are talking about public multiples. At the end of the day, you still going to need to repair this equipment or replace it. Otherwise you will be looking at a much smaller force in the future. A smaller force is not in any of the long-range plans at the Pentagon. It's just the opposite; we are expanding our Army and Marine troop levels over the next five years. The troop pullout of Iraq would be more a Wall Street event; spending levels other than war operations will still be maintained at or near record levels.

TWST: That would appear to bode well for the industry longer term.

Mr. Arment: Yes, absolutely, and that really gets back to the overall theme of having high exposure to companies that are supporting the Army and Marines. They have seen the lion's share of the losses in terms of equipment. As a result, they are ultimately going to see the lion's share of the gains as equipment gets replaced.

TWST: You mentioned General Dynamics. Who else would you look at?

Mr. Arment: A small cap name that we like that is also benefiting from force protection is EDO Corporation (EDO), which has almost $1 billion in market cap. They have a sole-source position on the jamming technology known as CREW 2.1. The jammers are utilized in armored vehicles and other support vehicles to jam signals being sent to IEDs. EDO's product jams frequencies and blocks the IEDs from being detonated from a remote source. They won a major competition among all of the large prime contractors. They were the only company that was selected, so they have a sole-source position. They really have a heritage in terms of being experts in what they call electronic cancellation. They are ideally positioned to see a lot of growth over the next few years from the procurement of these CREW 2.1 jammers. EDO will generate a little over $1 billion in revenues this year, but the outlook is very favorable with the potential for 50% growth during the next two years.

TWST: Are there any other names in this space to bring up?

Mr. Arment: Another name that we like is Alliant TechSystems (ATK). Everyone kind of knows them as the bullet company. They are the number one manufacturer of small caliber ammunition in the US. They also produce medium caliber ammunition and are quickly becoming a leader in precision weaponry. About a third of their business is tied up with NASA. Unlike 10 years ago, NASA spending is actually a growing opportunity for ATK as a lot of money has been awarded for the replacement of the Shuttle. They have won some significant share on the Ares rocket, which is replacing the Space Shuttle. So between NASA and ammunition demand, their visibility is quite good.

They are also a stealth play as a leader in composite structures and specialized composite tooling. This all evolved out of their work with NASA and the Defense Department. As a result, they have been working with the main aerostructure companies that are supporting the 787 aircraft program. Their composite business is actually doubling in the next two years, which is based on existing defense and space contracts and not the 787. Composite sales are about $250 million and projected to hit $450 million by the end of the decade. The composite expansion has added to the overall growth outlook for the company.

Wall Street is worried that if there is a draw-down in Iraq, ammunition sales will be hit. That is not the case. Post 9/11, we have changed all the training requirements and 90% of the ammunition that gets consumed in the small caliber category is for training. Those training requirements are very unlikely to change any time soon.

AGfn Rumors
Friday , August 31, 2007 08:49ET

Aug 31, 2007 (JAGfn.com via COMTEX) -- (FRPT) (GD) (LMT) Rumors persists that General Dynamics Corp. (GD) or Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) will make a bid for Force Protection Inc. (FRPT).

Copyright 2007 JAGfn.com All Rights Reserved
http://www.knobias.com/story.htm?eid=3.1.9e99535d066618596084ace3dc906c0f06f6411c034055a52b966854a9aa4100