By B.C. Kessner
BAE Systems is set to deliver an enhanced protection (EP) category A Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV A-EP) to the Army in November, company executives said last week.
“We have incorporated some additional changes in our design that have come out as result of the testing since May,” Mike Hogan, vice president business development, BAE’s U.S. Combat Systems, told reporters at a press briefing in advance of the Association of the United States Army annual meeting. “This is going to be the vehicle that will meet the customer’s needs,” he added.
JLTV, a multi-service initiative for a family of future light tactical vehicles, is currently in the technology demonstration phase. A Milestone C production decision in 2013 is expected to be followed by full production in 2015 (Defense Daily, July 23).
BAE U.S. Combat Systems is teamed with Navistar Defense LLC, an affiliate of trucking giant Navistar International Corp. [NAV], and ArvinMeritor on JLTV. Collectively, the team has produced more than 75 percent of all Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAP) delivered into theater, and lessons from MRAP have been incorporated into JLTV designs, Hogan said.
Two other teams are working on the current 27-month technology demonstration phase: the General Tactical Vehicles (GTV) team of General Dynamics [GD] and AM General, and a Lockheed Martin [LMT] team that includes another segment of BAE. Each has delivered prototype vehicles blending performance, payload and protection beyond that of current vehicles.
“In today’s IED environment, I think we all understand that JLTV has got to be more than just a truck,” Hogan said. It has to support the Army’s long term tactical wheeled vehicle strategy, the Marine Corps’ vertical and sealift requirements, and it has to be “vehicle that could be used in Iraq as well as Afghanistan,” he added.
Hogan said that JLTV is needed to buy back some of that performance and payload that was lost by loading up HMMWVs with armor as troops started experiencing IEDs during contacts in theater. “Current vehicles, between the HMMWV, MATV and MRAP, do not have the balance that the customers are looking for between those three,” he said.
Now two years into the program, BAE began deliveries of vehicles in May and is looking forward to the request for proposals due out next summer. The team has delivered 10 vehicles and trailers to the Army, Marine Corps, and the Australian army.
Testing of the prototype vehicles is taking place at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., and Australia. The team has gone through critical design reviews and test readiness reviews, Hogan said. Vehicles at Aberdeen are undergoing performance testing and those at Yuma are primarily undergoing reliability and maintainability testing.
The three JLTVs delivered to Australia are called right-hand operation vehicles. “We are looking at providing these to other international customers as well as Australia,” Hogan said.
JLTV-A is the general purpose category of the vehicle. The other two categories are JLTV-B-BCOM (Battle Command On-The-Move), and JLTV-C-UTL (Utility Vehicle-Shelter Carrier- Prime Mover).
Additionally, EMD high priority vehicles shall be produced and limited testing done by the government and contractor on: The Heavy Guns Carrier–JLTV-A-HGC; the Close Combat Weapons Carrier–JLTV-A-CCWC; the Reconnaissance vehicle–JLTV-A-Recon; and the Two litter ambulance–JLTV-C-Amb.
The rest of the JLTV family of vehicles will be designed to the critical design review level only, but the option would remain to fabricate and test vehicles after Milestone C: The Infantry Carrier–JLTV-B-IC and the Reconnaissance vehicle–JLTV-B-Recon.