Hampered by industry production constraints, the Marine Corps may launch a second competitive bid this month for upgraded Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles, according to a government document.

Production delays have put the Pentagon behind schedule on deployment so the second bid would aim to attract companies that may not have bid on the first go-round.

"What we are trying to do is manufacture as many as we can and get them to the field to the men and women who need them as fast as we can," says Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

A second batch of MRAPs designed with a V-shaped hull would better repel a more advanced improvised explosive device, wounding and killing soldiers in Baghdad and elsewhere, Pentagon officials say.

Earlier this year, nine companies were chosen to build test MRAPs as the Pentagon ramped up production. The military has awarded six contracts for up to nearly 5,000 MRAPs, based on the results of those tests.

The latest deal for 1,170 MRAPs was awarded Friday by the Marines Corps to Stewart and Stevenson Tactical Vehicle System LP, a division of Armor Holdings Inc., for $518.5 million. Those vehicles will be delivered by the end of February 2008.

Other companies making MRAPs include BAE Systems Plc, Force Protection Industries Inc. , General Dynamics Corp. and Navistar International Corp.'s subsidiary International Military and Government LLC.

Companies interested in the second round of contracts would have to submit new test vehicles, the Pentagon said.

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