Competitors for the Army and Marine Corps’ Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program have entered into the limited user testing (LUT) phase.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] is about to embark on four weeks of Marine Corps radio testing for its (JLTV) offering, company Vice President of Ground Vehicles Scott Green told reporters Tuesday. Green said at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) convention in Washington Lockheed Martin is replacing the Army’s radios with Marine Corps radios so the Marines can perform their own user testing. The Army had been performing its own limited user testing over the last few weeks.
The team of Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems is bidding for JLTV, which is designed to replace many of the current Army and Marine Corps Humvee vehicles, providing significant advances in survivability and capability. Oshkosh Defense [OSK] and AM General are also bidding for the program. AM General is offering its Blast Resistant Vehicle-Off Road (BRV-O) while Oshkosh is offering the Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV). AM General said in a Sept. 25 statement its vehicles have transitioned into limited user testing (LUT). Oshkosh was not able to be reached for comment by press time.
The Lockheed Martin team recently completed the government’s production readiness review (PRR), assembling a JLTV on its production line to further demonstrate production readiness (Defense Daily, Sept. 5). The Defense Department issued a second draft request for proposal (RFP) on Oct. 7, according to a notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). DoD released its first draft request for proposals (RFP) in July. Contractors are currently performing under engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contracts, which includes military testing, training and support, lasting through November (Defense Daily, July 17).
AM General Vice President of Program Management and Business Development Chris Vanslager said Tuesday the final RFP should arrive around November and the company expects to submit its proposal in January. Vanslager said he expects the JLTV award to be made around July-August 2015.