Marauder

I've been receiving press releases from South African based Paramount Group about their Marauder vehcile being featured on BBC's Top Gear program. Apparently the Marauder battled it out against a normal HMMWV and survived a staged IED attack. See more on the release here. Good stuff.

Ranger International Buys US Logistics

Actually, it's a Ranger Aerospace led merger, combining Ranger Aerospace, CAV International, and US Logistics into a diversified technical services platform called Ranger International Services Group. This looks like a damn smart acquisition for Ranger, a Greenville, SC based private equity partnership specializing in aerospace and defense. Previously focused on aerospace tech services deals, Ranger had already acquired Keystone Helicopter and Aircraft Service International Group. But the US Logistics deal substantially broadens their operations, giving them US's growing business in maintenance services for wheeled tactical vehicles, including an FSR contract for the MRAP.

Clearly a favorite sector at Defense Ventures, wheeled tactical vehicles (from HMMWV to GCV) will be a growth sector worldwide as the U.S. expands its successful Stryker and MRAP fieldings and fills the gap left by killing FCS. Not to say this acquisition makes Ranger a major player there, but it does show impressive foresight to expand from one emerging sector (rotary wing maintenance & tech services) into another.