JCB, the world’s third largest construction equipment brand, has won a $50 million contract to supply high-speed backhoe loaders to the U.S. Army, the company has announced Thursday.
The High Mobility Engineer Excavators – or HMEEs – will be manufactured in Savannah at JCB’s North American plant and delivered to the Army by 2017.
Engineered and purpose-built for the U.S. military, the 35,000-pound HMEE is the result of years of research, design and hands-on testing by JCB and a global team that included Department of Defense and other military experts.
The HMEE, introduced 10 years ago, is capable of speeds of up to 60 mph, can keep up with military convoys on the road and eliminates the need to transport the machine using a truck and trailer. It also makes it possible to clear roads and remove obstacles with ease.
The machine comes with blast protection systems so effective that on several occasions it has been credited with saving the lives of operators who have encountered improvised explosive devices.
“Over the past 30 years, JCB has supplied armies in 57 countries with over 4,000 machines, and we are delighted to build on that success by securing this latest contract with the United States Army,”
said JCB Chief Executive Graeme Macdonald.
Arjun Mirdha, president and CEO of JCB North America, agreed.
“The fact that the U.S. Army has once again chosen JCB and its Savannah facility to produce this extraordinary piece of equipment is a testament to the quality and innovation of the JCB HMEE,” Mirdha said.
“We are very proud to manufacture a machine that protects the lives of our servicemen and women in the course of their military duties,” he said.
The Army was the first military organization to buy HMEEs when it awarded JCB a contract worth $206 million in 2005. Today, that contract remains the largest single order in JCB’s 68-year history.
Since then, the company has gone on to sell the machine to other allied nations.
The backhoe and loader being produced under the new contract is the HMEE-1 model, which can be delivered by C-17 aircraft as well as the C130 Hercules.
The HMEE-1 has a 6.7-liter diesel engine and is four-wheel drive and four-wheel steer. It can lift two tons and dig to a depth of approximately 13 feet.
The machines supplied will be a mix of standard models and full-crew protection models.
ABOUT JCB:
Founded in England by the late Joseph Cyril Bamford, for whom the company is named, the privately held, family-owned company is the third-largest manufacturer of construction equipment in the world, with 22 production facilities on four continents and 10,000 employees worldwide.
The company manufactures more than 300 different machines including backhoe loaders, telescopic handlers, tracked and wheeled excavators, wheel loaders, skid steer loaders and mini excavators. With North American headquarters in Savannah, JCB will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.