Navistar gets $180 million order from British military

Navistar International Corp., the world's fourth-largest truckmaker, said the U.K. Ministry of Defense agreed to buy 262 armored combat vehicles valued at about $180 million for use in Afghanistan.

Navistar entered negotiations last year and the U.K. completed the contract on April 3, said Elissa Koc, spokeswoman for the Warrenville-based truckmaker.

The Husky vehicles are designed to maneuver Afghanistan's rough terrain, the company said today in a statement. Dytecna Ltd. will equip the vehicles with U.K.-specific communications and Israel's Plasan Sasa Ltd. will help provide the armor. Assembly of the Husky vehicles will take place at Navistar's West Point, Mississippi, plant with deliveries scheduled to begin in the second half of 2009.

The contract will include spare parts and support. Navistar fell 7 cents to $30.68 at 10:34 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 53 percent in the past 12 months.