The Department of Defense has awarded a $21.4 million contract to Cummins Inc. to build or remanufacture a diesel engine found on tracked infantry fighting vehicles, including the M2 Bradley.

Ninety percent of the work to complete the one-year contract for 160 new and remanufactured V903s will be performed at Seymour Engine Plant. The remaining 10 percent will occur in Columbus, according to the contract.

The contract was awarded Tuesday and expires Dec. 31, 2016.

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Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., said the news is good for Seymour.

“We’ve very pleased to see the news of this new contract,” he said. “I think it just goes in line with what Cummins has been talking about in Seymour in terms of expanding their high-horsepower engine business.”

The V903 series engine was first built in 1982 at Seymour Engine Plant, known then as Cummins Industrial Center. At the time, it was the sole supplier of the engine used by the military in Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

The engine is still used in the Bradley Fighting System, the military’s multiple-launch rocket system and Paladin Integrated Management vehicles.

The Army’s order calls for the 800-horsepower version of the V903.

In mid-October, Cummins celebrated the grand opening of its $70 million Seymour Technical Center, with room for 526 employees. Seymour is home to the company’s High-Horsepower Engine Division, and new warehouses and engineering and production test cells have been built here.

With 700 employees currently working at the engine plant on East Fourth Street, the technical center will house an additional 500 to 600 employees, bringing the total number of Cummins employees in Seymour to more than 1,200.

The Seymour Engine Plant site now occupies 34.81 acres on the north side of the CSX Railroad tracks, along with another 18.9 acres on the south side of the tracks. The company built a new warehouse on the property on the south side in 2014.