WASHINGTON - Wall Street analysts predict several contracts will be awarded the next two weeks for armored vehicles needed by U.S. forces in Iraq.

In a note to investors Monday, Stanford Group Co. analyst Josephine Millward, said she expects the Pentagon to dole out three to four contracts worth up to $2.4 billion total for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP vehicles by mid-June.

Millward named the U.S. subsidiary of British defense contractor BAE Systems PLC, Oshkosh, Wis.-based Oshkosh Truck Corp. and Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings Inc. as companies likely to get the next MRAP deals.

The military is pressing to get several thousand MRAPs to Iraq as soon as possible because they are considered more effective than Humvees currently in use at protecting soldiers from roadside bombs and other explosive devices.

Cowen and Co. analyst Cai von Rumohr said Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics Corp. is well poised to win another MRAP pact as the only company with experience in two lines of armored vehicles: the Marine Corps' Cougar and the Army's RG-31.

"DoD's apparent pattern in making the two major MRAP orders to date with Force Dynamics and Navistar has been to give initial production contracts to vehicles that pass the MRAP tests," said von Rumohr, in a note to investors.

Nine companies were selected earlier this year to each build four test vehicles. A Marine Corps-led joint program is awarding contracts as testing on those units is completed.

The Defense Department wants to buy 7,774 MRAP vehicles expected to cost $8.4 billion this fiscal year. If approved, the military may seek to get funding up to $20 billion in future years for as many as 18,000 MRAPs.

Millward wrote in her note that contractors that do not pass initial testing may team with other approved companies to meet production targets of 1,000 MRAP units per month through year-end.

Two contracts have been awarded this year. Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar International Corp. won a $623.1 million deal to build 1,200 armored vehicles, and Ladson, S.C.-based Force Protection Industries Inc. earned a $490 million pact to build 1,000 MRAP vehicles. Force Protection is teaming up with General Dynamics under a joint venture called "Force Dynamics" to increase production capacity for future contracts.

The MRAPs, designed with a V-shape hull to repel improvised explosive devices, will replace armored Humvees made by privately held AM General Corp.