Navistar drops after protesting all-terrain truck contest

Navistar International Corp., the largest maker of blast-resistant trucks for the U.S. military, fell as much as 19 percent after protesting a Pentagon program to buy all-terrain trucks for troops in Afghanistan before awards were made.

Warrenville-based Navistar fell $4.74, or 14 percent, to $29.09 on the New York Stock Exchange when trading was halted about 1:18 p.m. Earlier, the shares dropped as low as $27.50.

The Army has said it wants to buy as many as 10,000 all- terrain vehicles that can navigate Afghanistan's undeveloped roads in a program that may be valued at about $6.5 billion. Navistar filed a protest of the contest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on March 30, Michael Golden, the GAO's managing associate general counsel for procurement law, said in an interview today. The contest was under way at the time, and a GAO decision on the matter is due by July 8, he said.

Roy Wiley, spokesman for Navistar, confirmed the protest and declined to specify its legal basis because "the matter is under review."

The trucks the Pentagon wants to buy are called MRAP All-Terrain Vehicles, or M-ATVs, and protect troops from roadside bombs.

Other confirmed contract bidders whose vehicles were accepted for the contest include BAE Systems Plc, based in London; Oshkosh Corp. in the Wisconsin city of the same name, and Force Dynamics, a joint venture between Force Protection Inc. and General Dynamics Corp.