DIGGER manufacturer JCB has secured a contract worth almost £30 million to supply its machines to the US military.
The deal will see the Rocester-based firm supply a fleet of high-speed backhoe loaders to the United States Army, known as High Mobility Engineer Excavators.
The machines, which have been engineered in the UK, will be built at at JCB's North American factory in Savannah, Georgia, and will be delivered in 2017.
The US Army was the first military organisation to purchase HMEEs when in 2005 it ordered 636 of the machines – a contract that was worth $206 million and which today remains the biggest single order in JCB's 68-year history.
Since then the company has gone on to sell the machine to armed forces in the UK, Sweden, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and other allied nations.
Th HMEE has a top speed of 60mph, which means it is able to keep up with military convoys on the road.
It can be used to clear obstacles blocking roads and comes with blast protection systems that can save the lives of operators who encounter improvised explosive devices while on duty in conflict zones.
JCB chief executive Graeme Macdonald said: "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."
