General Dynamics will produce a new round of military vehicle armor at its McHenry plant under a $107.7 million U.S. Army contract.

The deal is the third contract expanding the company’s reactive armor tile program from fitting just the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

The option is part of a contract awarded in July 2006 which has a total value of $237 million. Work under the new contract will continue through September 2009.

Company spokesman Norm Blanchard said no new hires are planned at the Stone County Operations in McHenry, where the tiles are assembled.

“It’s a follow-on contract, something we were anticipating,” Blanchard said. “We’re not going to increase headcount there, just sustain it as planned.”

The reactive armor package is designed to prevent damage to combat vehicles in Iraq. The system is made up of tiles that fasten to the exterior of the vehicles.

RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd.’s Ordnance Systems Division of Haifa, Israel, will share half of the production workload with General Dynamics. The production program is directed from the General Dynamics Burlington Technology Center in Vermont.