MILWAUKEE — Oshkosh Corp. has won a $192.9 million contract to supply a new generation of firefighting vehicles to the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Defense Logistics Agency said the company was one of three bidders for the contract, which was awarded by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va.

Oshkosh said work under the contract will take place beginning this month, with the final work under the award scheduled for May 2018.

The vehicle is the Marines' first-response vehicle in responding to aircraft fires at military bases and expeditionary airfields, according to Oshkosh.

The work on the contract will be done by Oshkosh in Appleton at a factory that builds firefighting vehicles for commercial airports, said John Daggett, an Oshkosh spokesman.

As a result, while the contract adds to the workload for the company's fire and emergency vehicle business, it won't have any effect on the previously announced job reductions in the Oshkosh defense division, Daggett said.

The announcement comes as Oshkosh is in the process of reducing employment levels in its defense business as the U.S. shifts away from stepped-up military investment linked to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Oshkosh announced in April that it planned to reduce employment at its defense division by about 900 people, including 700 hourly workers who are expected to be laid off in mid-June. An additional 200 salaried employees would be laid off beginning in July.

That's about 25% of the workforce in Oshkosh's defense division.

During a recent investor conference call, Oshkosh executives said the defense division's military truck business was still expected to generate $3 billion in sales this year. Through the first six months of 2013, defense sales accounted for 44% of overall Oshkosh sales, with fire and emergency accounting for 9% of sales.

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