JLTV Competitors Receive Draft RFPs For Production Phase

Oshkosh Defense [OSK], AM General, and Lockheed Martin

[LMT], all competing for the Army/Marine Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), have received draft requests for proposals (RFP) for the production phase of the program, with a government decision to come in the first half of 2015, officials say.

All three firms have all wrapped up most of the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the program, which ends this fall.

The JLTV is designed to replace many of the current Army and Marine Humvee vehicles, providing significant advances in survivability and capability.

All three competitors each delivered 22 fully integrated JLTV prototypes to the government in August 2013 for testing at Yuma Test Center, Ariz., and Aberdeen Test Center, Md.

The EMD phase includes military testing, training and support through November.

Oshkosh Defense is offering the Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV).

“The nature of warfare has changed, and future battlefields will bring an unpredictable combination of terrain, tactics and threats,” said John Urias, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, Oshkosh Defense. “The JLTV program fills a critical capability gap between the HMMWV and larger (MRAP vehicles in service today. The Oshkosh JLTV solution will equip our troops with a new generation of off-road mobility and protection they need to accomplish their missions.”

In preparation for the production phase, the company said it produced its JLTV EMD prototypes on an active and proven production line, alongside its (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected ) MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV), Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV), Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) and other platforms. Using lean processes, flexible assembly lines and rigorous quality checks, Oshkosh has a history of delivering tactical wheeled vehicles on schedule and with industry-leading quality.

“Oshkosh is prepared to begin JLTV low-rate initial production immediately should the company be awarded the production contract,” said Urias. “We believe that no other light tactical vehicle platform offers a comparable combination of proven technology, systems integration and manufacturing readiness at an affordable cost.”

AM General said it has successfully completed every milestone to date throughout the EMD phase, including the design understanding review, manufacturing readiness assessment and ahead of schedule delivery of 22 BRV-Os™ to the government for testing.

“As the most experienced Light Tactical Vehicle company in the world, having designed, tested, built and fielded more than 1.5 million vehicles, we are very pleased with BRV-O’s™ performance to date and EMD testing was very much in line with our projections,” said AM General Vice President of Business Development and Program Management Chris Vanslager. “We look forward to getting this modern and innovative vehicle that provides unmatched situational awareness, protection, performance and payload at an affordable price into the hands of our customers as soon as possible. Light tactical vehicles are in our DNA and we are setting the pace on integrating components, meeting timelines and other requirements and working closely with our military customer representatives daily.”

Lockheed Martin said it received the JLTV draft production RFP in late June and is carefully evaluating it.

“The team is eager to receive the program’s final RFP later this year, John Kent, a Lockheed Martin spokesman, said. “Our JLTV has performed well in government EMD testing, fully demonstrating that our vehicle restores protected mobility to our soldiers and Marines.”