The military is warning that MRAP vehicles that were rapidly designed and deployed to protect troops from improvised explosive devices are at a risk for rollover.

At least five troop deaths have been blamed on the rollovers.

The military's MRAP vehicle fleet went from zero about a year and a half ago to more than 10,000 as of earlier this summer. At the time, about 1,135 had been produced at BAE Systems in West Manchester Township. More than 2,000 have been ordered from the facility.

Kelly Golden, spokeswoman for BAE Systems in West Manchester Township, said the RG-33 model of MRAP is manufactured at its local facility and she is unaware of major incidents with the model.

BAE manufactures elsewhere the Caiman model and has a part in the manufacturing of the RG-31, which has a lead producer of General Dynamics.

Both of those models have been involved in major rollover incidents, helping to prompt the warning.

Golden said the company is in conversations with the military about what can be done to minimize the risk of MRAP rollover, but could not comment further.

All MRAP models have risks of rolling over because of their design, which raises the vehicle's center of gravity high off the ground and lines the vehicle with armor plating, Golden said.The result is a V-shaped vehicle -- as viewed from the front and back -- that helps deflect roadside bomb blasts away from passenger compartments.

Because of the very designs that protect troops, it ends up top-heavy, Golden said.

Add that feature to poor roads and rollovers can result.

"The roads are not what we're used to in the U.S.," Golden said.

The message is especially relevant in Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taliban has boosted demand.

Because of the country's mountainous terrain and unpaved roads, officials will send nearly 800 more RG-31s, the smallest of several different MRAPs the

military now uses.

Yet even at a comparatively nimble nine tons, the RG-31 is not immune from tipping. On June 29, three Green Berets drowned when theirs rolled into a canal in southern Afghanistan. The accident is under investigation.

Close to 7,000 of the vehicles are already in use in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Pentagon will buy at least that many more.

And despite their bulk, the MRAPs have power steering, air brakes and quick acceleration. These features can lull drivers into thinking they're just handling a bigger version of the smaller and more agile Humvee.

Don't be fooled.

"This ain't your father's Oldsmobile," says the June edition of "Safety Corner," an internal newsletter published by the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned in Quantico, Va.

There have been at least 66 MRAP-related accidents between November and June, according to Defense Department statistics. Nearly 40 of those involved a rollover caused by bad roads, weak bridges or driver error.

The Associated Press contributed to this report