Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Independant Suspension System (ISS) Program

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Independant Suspension System (ISS) program was initiated in response to terrain and and other conditions by warfighters in Afghanistan operating as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The ISS program was designed to improve the speed and off-road capability of legacy MRAP types.

Though a Request for Information for a smaller, lighter, more agile vehicle with MRAP protection had been released in September 2008 and the a Request for Proposals for what had become the M-ATV program had released in December 2008, requirements remained for the continued fielding of various existing MRAP types across the services and by US Special Operations Command. With the fielding of the M-ATV, these vehicles became referred to as legacy MRAP types. As a result, an initial contract for an independant suspension system (ISS) was released for purchase in April 2009. The selected ISS was Oshkosh Defense's TAK-4, the same type fitted to Oshkosh's submission to the M-ATV program. Oshkosh's candidate had subsequently been selected as the winner of the M-ATV contract in June 2009. Oshkosh Defense advertised the system as "available for all sized vehicles." The first Cougar MRAP fitted with the TAK-4 ISS was delivered to Afghanistan in August 2009. The TAK-4 ISS was subsequently intended to fitted to all legacy MRAP types.

BAE Systems' announced in September 2010, that its subsidiary Global Tactical Systems had been awarded a contract to upgrade 1,700 existing Caiman MRAPs, to include the addition of an ISS developed by Arvin Meritor specifically for the type. These new Caiman's, called Caiman Multi-Terrain Vehicles (MTVs), were separate from the ISS program.

Navistar Defense also developed their own ISS version of the MaxxPro Dash in 2011, which utilized AxleTech's 5000 Series Independent Suspension Axle System and Hendrickson International's engineered sub-frame. Subsequent orders for this variant, the MaxxPro Dash Extended Mobility (DXM), were placed by the US military for its own use and for delivery to allies.