The Marine Corps has opened its search for a new ultra-light all-terrain tactical vehicle intended to replace the Polaris [PII] MRZR around the fiscal year 2022 timeframe.
Program Executive Office – Land Systems (PEO LS) released a request for information notice Nov. 9 for the Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicle (ULTV), which officials said must be capable of handling infantry units’ electronic warfare and logistics operations.
Photo: Polaris Industries.
The ULTV will replace the MRZR, the Marine Corps’ Utility Task Vehicle (UTV), which only started fielding in the last couple years.
“The UTV has a life expectancy of five years, therefore the Marine Corps is initiating research efforts to see what industry will have available that may meet the Corps’ needs and could potentially inform a full-rate production decision in early FY ’22 for a replacement to the UTV program,” Manny Pacheco, a spokesman for PEO LS, told Defense Daily.
Officials are looking for a fully developed off-road vehicle that is modular and transportable on MV-22 and CH-53E/K aircraft, according to the RFI.
PEO LS will hold an industry day in early January at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, where companies will have a chance to demonstrate their vehicles on an off-road track.
Responses to the RFI are due by Dec. 10.