Ladson, SC. -- Force Protection, Inc., a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of survivability solutions and provider of total life cycle support for those products, today announced it has received notification from the Government of Canada that it has been selected to continue in the procurement for the Tactical Armored Patrol Vehicle Project (TAPV).

Force Protection responded to the Solicitation of Interest and Qualification (SOIQ) phase with their Cougar 4x4 and 6x6 variants in June 2010. In addition to the two Cougar variants, seven vehicles from other equipment manufacturers have been selected in the TAPV program to now move into the Request for Proposal ("RFP") phase. The procurement is for up to 600 vehicles and related long term support services. Contract award to the final selected bidder is expected in 2011.

Randy Hutcherson, Chief Operating Officer of Force Protection, Inc. commented, "We are pleased that we have been selected to continue in the TAPV competition in Canada. The Cougars and Buffalos currently in service with the Canadian Forces are proven to save lives and perform critical missions to the efforts in Afghanistan. We look forward to responding to the request for proposal and continuing to build on our strong relationship with the Canadian Forces."