Photo by Rebecca Lamb, WCIVBy Stacy Jacobson
sjacobson@abcnews4.com
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command marked the completion of more than 27,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles Monday. The North Charleston SPAWAR plant produced the All-Terrain Vehicles since 2008.
"The MRAP was a national effort. The folks here in the Lowcountry were right in the middle - building, putting out 50 a day and at one point 75. That is a tremendous effort and at the end of the day, saved lives," Commanding Officer Mark Glover said.
SPAWAR specifically installed the electronic communications equipment.
"We would put things in such as trackers to identify the bad guys. We would put things on such as [improvised explosive device] locators," Glover said.
Plants outside South Carolina manufacture the MRAP vehicles using a special material specifically designed for the terrain in Afghanistan.
"We're saving lives and from our pieces, ensuring it has the communications so they can talk to each other from vehicle to vehicle," SPAWAR program manager Peter Ward said.
Officials said the Lowcountry is at the center of a national effort to help the U.S. military.
"We make sure they have the best they need to fight the war," Glover said.
SPAWAR employs about 2,600 people in the Charleston area, officials said.
