Oshkosh Defense on Monday submitted a proposal to increase the payload and boost survivability, ride quality and mobility for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) it builds for the Army, an effort to maintain its incumbency on the utility truck program.
May 8 was the deadline for truck manufacturers to respond to a request for proposals (RFP) the Army published for an upgraded FMTV called the A2 model. Oshkosh, which initially won the contract in 2009, had delivered 35,000 FMTV trucks and trailers when the Army decided to reopen the competition.
Several companies jumped on the Army’s competitive RFP, which calls for bidders to validate and produce an upgraded FMTV A2 fleet of vehicles with improved payload, underbody protection, ride quality, mobility, engine power, electronics, diagnostics, and safety enhancements.
A spokesman for the Army’s combat support and combat systems support program office could not confirm Monday how many companies pitched FMTVs, but major truck companies including Humvee manufacturer AM General, MRAP builder Navistar [NAV] and commercial giant Mack Trucks all were expected to participate.
“As the missions change, so should the vehicles built to support those missions,” said Pat Williams, vice president and general manager of Army and Marine Corps Programs at Oshkosh, in a prepared statement. “With our proposed FMTV A2 design, Oshkosh leverages its vast experience manufacturing and providing support to FMTV vehicles under the current FMTV A1P2 program. No one understands the U.S. Army’s FMTV platform better than Oshkosh Defense, and we are prepared to seamlessly transition into FMTV A2 production.”
Oshkosh Defense is a business segment of Oshkosh Corp. [OSK].
The Army plans to award one seven-year firm fixed price and cost-plus fixed fee contract that involves five base order years with two one-year options. In order to maintain the testing schedule, the first FMTV A2 test vehicle must deliver to the Army 450 days after contract award, according to the RFP. Contract award is now projected for second quarter of fiscal year 2018, according to Col. Dan Furber, the Army’s transportation system project manager.
The Army then will order 285 light MTVs in three variants, 2,116 MTV trucks in 13 variants and 23 trailers in three variants. There are 17 existing variants within the FMTV fleet, all built on a common chassis.
The FMTV program already has traversed a bumpy road to the current competition, a move that caught some in the tactical truck industry by surprise. Oshkosh in 2009 won the program from former incumbent BAE Systems, which bought the company that made the trucks before it and was subsequently sued by the U.S. Government for deliberately overcharging for the vehicles.
Oshkosh is the sole producer of the Army’s heavy expanded mobility tactical trucks (HEMTT) palletized load systems (PLS) and self-recovery winches, which make up the service’s Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV). Rounding out its Army truck portfolio is the joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV) which the company is currently building under a low-rate, initial-production (LRIP) contract.
“Oshkosh’s proposal for the FMTV A2 program is another example of our unwavering commitment to the U.S. soldier to provide the safest, most capable, and reliable FMTV with the most protection this platform has ever offered,” added John Bryant, Oshkosh Corporation senior vice president and Oshkosh Defense president. “We look forward to the opportunity to continue our service to the U.S. Army.”