Oshkosh Defense [OSK] is pursuing the Army’s potential $5 billion Common Tactical Truck (CTT) effort to find a replacement for its heavy tactical vehicle fleet and has submitted a bid for the program’s prototype phase, a company official confirmed to Defense Daily

on Monday.

AM General also announced Monday it has teamed with Iveco Defense Vehicles (IDV) to pursue CTT, offering a proposal based on IDV’s line of High Mobility Range Vehicle trucks.

Ft. McCoy, Wis. – A heavy expanded mobility tactical truck (HEMTT) prepares to recover another vehicle that has been immobilized by a mock improvised explosive device during a combat support training exercise at Fort McCoy, Wis., Aug. 21, 2016. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Clinton Massey, 206th Broadcast Operations Detachment)

Oshkosh Defense manufactures the Army’s current fleet of Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicle (FHTV) trucks, which includes Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and Palletized Load System (PLS) platforms. 

“Of course, it’s right in our wheelhouse. The purpose of the program is to upgrade the heavy and the linehaul logistics fleet, which is what we do. That’s exactly what we do for the Army right now. We absolutely see [CTT] as something where we can be helpful based on our 40-plus years of experience being a provider of that heavy tactical fleet,” Pat Williams, Oshkosh Defense’s vice president and general manager of Army and Marine Corps programs, told Defense Daily in an interview at the Association of the United States Army’s annual conference in Washington D.C.

CTT, formerly known as Next Generation Future Truck, is intended to replace the Army’s FHTV fleet with new variants that utilize a common chassis.

The Army began soliciting proposals in late June for CTT’s multi-phased prototyping effort, with plans to award up to five deals within the next few months for vendors to each deliver three test vehicles.

“I’m excited about our collaboration with IDV because it marries international business with our deep experience in supporting the U.S. military. Together, we are a formidable force ready to provide the best solution for CTT,” Jim Cannon, president and CEO of AM General, said in a statement. 

Rheinmetall announced in August it has teamed with GM Defense to offer an ‘Americanized’ version of its new HX3 truck, which the German defense firm first unveiled last year, for the CTT competition (Defense Daily, Aug. 17). 

The eventual common chassis for CTT is expected to support five vehicle configurations: a “wrecker” variant capable of recovering Strykers and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, a Load Handling System-Heavy version with a crane, a tractor variant capable of handling payloads up to 40 tons, a tanker variant with an objective payload of up to 2,500 gallons and a cargo bed variant with a crane.

“[Oshkosh Defense] has developed a lot of the capabilities that the Army is seeking. I think we just need to put those together. Because we have a great fleet. We have solutions that are already developed to incorporate into the fleet to meet the CTT requirements. So we look forward to incorporating those things together and get those trucks in testing,” Williams told Defense Daily

Following the open competition for the CTT prototyping program, the Army said it may award the initial production contract “without the use of competitive procedures, so long as the participants in this transaction successfully complete the prototype project” (Defense Daily, March 1)