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Biden wants to protect local manufacturers
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful in town to improve his standing over his fellow candidates, took time out from his CNN YouTube debate preparations to tout two armored vehicle makers based here in the Lowcountry.
In doing so, Biden described Protected Vehicles Inc. of North Charleston and Force Protection Inc. of Ladson as local businesses that could help dramatically reduce American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan if only his fellow lawmakers would move more quickly to give them big defense contracts.
“This is not a press conference to get press. This is a press conference to save lives,” Biden told a crowd of onlookers who had gathered in Brittlebank Park.
Some people were curious to get a glimpse of a presidential candidate in town for the July 23 debate. Others were drawn by the site of the four massive vehicles that were parked nose-to-nose on the banks of the Ashley River.
Three of those vehicles, the Buffalo, Cheetah and Cougar, are manufactured by Force Protection, while the fourth, the Protector, is Protected Vehicle’s newest model.
Upon his arrival at the park, Biden inspected the vehicles with Michael Sandusky, Protected Vehicles’ executive director of program management, and Raymond W. Pollard, chief operations officer at Force Protection.
As Biden climbed in one and atop another, he peppered the men with questions about the vehicles, ranging from inquiries about their size and protective features to the missions in which they’re deployed and the specific threats soldiers face in the Middle East battles.
About 70% of the American deaths and grave injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are the result of roadside bombs, landmines and explosive projectiles being used against “up-armored” humvees and other vehicles, said Biden, a longtime supporter of the U.S. Department of Defense’s mine resistant armor protected vehicle program.
The vehicles made by the two Lowcountry companies all are designed with V-shaped bellies that ride high above the ground and deflect the force of blast occurring directly under the vehicles, Pollard said.
They also are constructed out of thick plates of steel and with heavy, blast-resistant glass, which helps protect the troops inside, he said.
Biden complained that Congress and President Bush have been slow to order more of the armored vehicles because they want to wait for a better, even more secure vehicle to be designed.
“We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said.
While Pentagon officials projected it would need more than 7,700 vehicles only a few months ago, the number of necessary vehicles is likely closer to 15,200, Biden said. That many vehicles could cost as much as $24 billion.
“Now I understand that that’s a considerable amount of money. But what I can’t live with is people coming home in body bags or suffering from severe head trauma because we didn’t afford them all the protection we possibly could,” he said.
Biden also heard suggestions among his colleagues that American companies aren’t up to the challenge of producing as many armored vehicles as the military needs as quickly as it needs them, he said.
“What I tell anyone who takes that position is that I believe in the free enterprise system, and when it comes to American companies, if you pay for it, they’ll build it,” he said.
Those words were music to Sandusky’s ears, who said while his 20-month-old company has enjoyed enormous growth—going from just five to more than 600 employees in that time—Protected Vehicles has not yet established a diversified market for its vehicles.
“We’re talking to some folks in Europe, but right now we’re almost entirely Defense
Department dependent,” he said.
The company is scheduled to deliver 60 vehicles to the U.S. Marine Corps in August. That delivery will represent the fulfillment of Protected Vehicles’ only current contract.
However, Sandusky’s company is introducing a new vehicle, the Protector, with a wealth of advanced protective feature.
“I’m confident we’ll secure another contract, and very soon,” he said. “The key is building good vehicles, and that’s something we believe we’ve been doing from the start.”
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.
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