The US Army has placed a $142m (£115m) order for more than 1,600 light-capability rough terrain forklifts for deployment on tasks around the world. Duties will include loading and unloading aircraft and shipping containers.
The new 527-58M forklift is engineered from JCB’s range of commercial Loadall telescopic handlers.
Chief executive Graeme Macdonald said: “This order is fantastic news for JCB and a great way to start the New Year. It is the second-highest-value order in the company’s history, and I congratulate everyone who has worked to secure this valuable contract in the same year that we mark 40 years of telescopic handler production.”
The largest single deal in JCB’s history also came from the US Army in 2005 when a $206m order was placed to produce hundreds of high-speed military spec backhoe loaders. That machine, the High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE), is capable of speeds of up to 60 mph and went on to be sold to allied forces around the world, including the UK, Sweden, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
Over the past three decades, JCB has supplied more than 4,000 machines to armed forces in 57 countries.
Like the HMEE, the new 527-58M light-capability rough terrain forklifts will be produced at JCB’s North American Headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. They will be powered by the 84hp (63kW) JCB DieselMax engine produced at JCB Power Systems in Derbyshire, UK.
At 80 inches (two metres) wide and 78 inches (1.98 metres) high, the military spec 527-58M is configured to work in confined spaces. With a top travel speed of 20 mph (33 kph), the machine has a maximum lift capacity of more than 5,000 lbs (2.26 tonnes) and a lift height of 19 ft (5.8 metres). The 527-58M has been marinised to meet the operational needs of the services during wading and fording.
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