BAE Systems and partners ArvinMeritor and Navistar Defense [NAV] said they have delivered an Enhanced Protection configuration of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) prototype to the Army and Marine Corps.
This is the final prototype that the team will deliver during the 27-month technology development phase, which is expected to conclude in May 2011 (Defense Daily, Oct. 26).
The prototype vehicles will undergo continued government testing over the next several months to aid in the finalization of the requirements for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase of the program (Defense Daily, July 23).
Ann Hoholick, vice president and general manager of New Vehicles and Amphibious Systems for BAE’s U.S. Combat Systems, said: “The military looks to JLTV to provide the improvements in protection, performance, and payload needed to fill the capability gaps between the HMMWV and MRAP families of vehicles. This vehicle is similar to the three Category A prototypes that were delivered earlier this year and has been further improved to allow for enhanced and scalable survivability without sacrificing essential expeditionary capabilities.”
Tim Burns, vice president of Defense and Specialty for ArvinMeritor, said: “The advanced design and engineering of the Meritor ProTec(TM) Series 30 High Mobility Independent Suspension will provide advanced protection, mobility and ride quality for the JLTV platform.”
The BAE team’s JLTV, dubbed Valanx, is also the team solution for the Australian Protected Mobility Vehicle-Light (PMV-L) program. The vehicle was publicly on display for the first time in Australia this week at the 2010 Land Warfare Conference in Brisbane. The Valanx is offered under Project Land 121-Phase 4.
The JLTV and PMV-L programs would replace much of the U.S. Humvee fleet and Australia’s Land Rover Perentie, based on the Defender.
Valanx is the result of four successive generations of demonstrator and prototype vehicles developed by BAE, the company said in a statement. The team leveraged years of armor design and development as well as the innovative blast mitigation techniques that have been matured on BAE’s Mine Resistant Armored Protection (MRAP) family of vehicles. The vehicles have a V-shaped hull to protect the crew from IED blasts.
In June, the BAE team delivered three right-hand drive Valanx vehicles to the Australian army.
The vehicles and trailer are being tested in Australia as part of the U.S. government JLTV program. Next month, the vehicles return to Australian control for evaluation in Australian tests.
The Australian Valanx vehicles were designed to be highly compatibility with U.S. variants, to ensure interoperability while at the same time the vehicles were tailored to meet Australian needs.