The U.S. Army fielded its first Buffalo armored vehicle to an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team in Iraq in mid 2003. Three years later, South Carolina-based manufacturer Force Protection has delivered around 300 Buffalos and smaller Cougars to the Army and Marine Corps. And despite more than 1,000 attacks on Soldiers and Marines riding in the vehicles in Iraq, there have been no fatalities. Now the company is set to massively expand production of the lifesaving trucks.

"Our vehicles take good care of us," Staff Sergeant Colin Thompson said in January. Thompson and other members of the North Dakota National Guard's 164th Engineer Battalion patrolled the streets around Balad, Iraq, for Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs. The unit was equipped with Buffalos, Cougars, up-armored Humvees and other vehicles, but credited the custom-designed Buffalos and Cougars with keeping it safe from attack. Thompson recalled a 164th patrol that was hit by three IEDs but suffered no injuries.

"Our armored vehicles effectively counter the effects of IEDs, land mines and roadside bombs," Force Protection CEO Gordon McGilton said in a recent statement. "In terms of safety and survivability, no other vehicle deployed in the war compares."

Some classified design secrets contribute to the vehicles' high degree of protection. But the major reason Buffalos and Cougars are so safe is simple: In an age when the military is obsessed with cutting vehicles' weight to make them easily air-transportable, Force Protection makes its vehicles heavier.

At a converted jet engine factory in the small town of Ladson, Force Protection craftsmen build each Buffalo and Cougar by hand. They start with commercial trucks purchased direct from the manufacturer, tear the trucks down to their chassis then pile on a new body comprised of steel and composite armor. To the tall, six-wheeled Buffaloes the workers affix an articulated remote-controlled arm for probing IEDs. The Cougars, which come in four-by-four and six-by-six models, are outfitted with gun turrets for the Buffalo escort role.

Just two years ago, Force Protection had a staff of 12 hand-building one Buffalo per month, according to spokesman Wayne Phillips. Now the company employs 400 and churns out more than a vehicle per day. Force Protection is slated to build 300 Buffalos through 2010 and several hundred more Cougars. This year, Force Protection partnered with BAE Systems to build as many as 1,000 Cougar derivatives for the Iraqi Army under the U.S.-managed Iraqi Light Armored Vehicle program. In recent weeks, the company has signed a similar agreement with General Dynamics Land Systems to jointly manufacture the standard Cougar in order to meet rising demand, including 85 for the British Army.

Capitalizing on its successes, the firm is looking to compete for the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, which aims to replace the Humvee across the U.S. military. As many as 100,000 vehicles are up for grabs in that competition.