DTN News: Oshkosh Corporation Commemorates Handoff Of 1,000th M-ATV To U.S. Armed Forces
*Source: DTN News / Oshkosh Corporation
(NSI News Source Info) OSHKOSH, Wis. - December 2, 2009: Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) marked the handoff of the 1,000th MRAP All Terrain Vehicle (
M-ATV) to the U.S. Armed Forces on Nov. 30 at a ceremony with military leadership at the company’s facilities in Oshkosh, Wis.
Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of the Marine Corps Systems Command, signs a ceremonial DD250 to commemorate the handoff of the 1,000th M-ATV to the U.S. Armed Forces.
Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of the Marine Corps Systems Command, was the keynote speaker at the event. Having exceeded the government’s delivery schedule for five consecutive months, Oshkosh is ramping up production to 1,000 vehicles per month in December and continuing at that level through April 2010.
“We understood the urgency of the M-ATV program to save American lives and leaned forward in advance of receiving the contract to build vehicles and prepare our operations for this high-quantity production,” said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh Corporation chairman and chief executive officer. “Our workforce has embraced this important mission and made countless personal sacrifices to produce these vehicles quickly to protect those that are sacrificing for our safety. They will continue to deliver these life-saving vehicles along with replacement parts and field support, as long as necessary.”
Since being awarded the production contract on June 30, 2009, Oshkosh has received four additional awards from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command (TACOM LCMC) to supply a total of 6,219 M-ATVs. Oshkosh also has received orders for spare kits and to send its factory-trained field service representatives (
FSR) to Afghanistan to provide training and maintenance support for the vehicles. The aggregate amount of the five awards is valued at $3.2 billion.
The M-ATV is the U.S. military’s newest MRAP model, combining the protection levels of legacy MRAPs with improved mobility and durability to handle Afghanistan’s mountainous cross-country terrain and unimproved roads. The vehicle uses the Oshkosh-patented
TAK-4® independent suspension system, which has undergone more than 500,000 miles of government testing, to achieve a 70-percent off-road profile capability and 16 inches of independent wheel travel. The system also is used on the Marine Corps’ Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (
MTVR) and Logistics Vehicle System Replacement (
LVSR), as well as the Army’s Palletized Load System (
PLS A1).
Existing Oshkosh Defense manufacturing facilities have available production capacity for all current and pending military vehicle programs, including the M-ATV and the U.S. Army’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (
FMTV), as well as any surges in production.
Oshkosh Defense teamed with Plasan North America to provide an advanced armor solution for the M-ATV. Plasan also developed the armor system used on more than 5,000 legacy MRAPs and thousands of Oshkosh MTVR Armored Cabs already in theater.
Photo Caption: Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of the Marine Corps Systems Command, is joined by Andy Hove, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, Defense, left, and Gordon Kranz, executive director of engineering and analysis for the Defense Contract Management Agency, as he signs a ceremonial DD250 to commemorate the handoff of the 1,000th M-ATV to the U.S. Armed Forces at a ceremony on Nov. 30 at the company's facilities in Oshkosh, Wis.
About Oshkosh Defense
Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation, is an industry-leading global designer and manufacturer of tactical military trucks and armored wheeled vehicles, delivering a full product line of conventional and hybrid vehicles, advanced armor options, proprietary suspensions and vehicles with payloads that can exceed 70 tons. Oshkosh Defense provides a global service and supply network including full life-cycle support and remanufacturing, and its vehicles are recognized the world over for superior performance, reliability and protection. For more information, visit
http://www.oshkoshdefense.com/.
About Oshkosh Corporation
Oshkosh Corporation is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty access equipment, commercial, fire & emergency and military vehicles and vehicle bodies. Oshkosh Corp. manufactures, distributes and services products under the brands of Oshkosh®, JLG®, Pierce®, McNeilus®, Medtec®, Jerr-Dan®, Oshkosh Specialty Vehicles, Frontline™, SMIT™, CON-E-CO®, London® and IMT®. Oshkosh products are valued worldwide in businesses where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount. For more information, log on to
http://www.oshkoshcorporation.com/.
U.S. Army soldiers belonging to the Alpha troop 3-71 Cavalry Squadron and members of the South Carolina National Guard patrol near the town of Baraki Barak, Logar province, Afghanistan. This is Logar province: scene of a major U.S. military surge, fuel for the argument by senior commanders that more troops and aid infusions could reverse Taliban gains in other areas of Afghanistan and ultimately culminate the war in victory.
The escalation — to be completed by next summer — is designed to reverse significant Taliban advances since Obama took office 10 months ago and to fast-track the training of Afghan soldiers and police toward the goal of hastening an eventual U.S. pullout. The size and speed of the troop increase will put a heavy strain on the military, which still maintains a force of more than 100,000 in Iraq and already has 68,000 in Afghanistan.
"The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 the fastest pace possible so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers," Obama was to say in his Tuesday night prime-time speech. The White House released excerpts in advance.
The increased troops, Obama said, "will increase our ability to train competent Afghan security forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans can get into the fight. And they will help create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans." 
A child watches as soldiers belonging to the Able Troop 3-71 Cavalry Squadron patrol in the village of Hawas Kheyl, Baraki Barak district, Logar province, Afghanistan Wednesday Nov. 25, 2009. This is Logar province: scene of a major U.S. military surge, fuel for the argument by senior commanders that more troops and aid infusions could reverse Taliban gains in other areas of Afghanistan and ultimately culminate the war in victory.
Looking to America's experience in Iraq, Obama put said a U.S. withdrawal would be executed "responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground."
"We will continue to advise and assist Afghanistan's security forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul. But it will be clear to the Afghan government and, more importantly, to the Afghan people that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country," Obama said. Obama also leaned heavily on NATO allies and other countries to join in escalating the fight.
"We must come together to end this war successfully," the president said. "For what's at stake is not simply a test of NATO's credibility. What's at stake is the security of our allies, and the common security of the world."
Obama's Tuesday evening speech to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to be broadcast nationally, ends three months of exacting deliberations that won praise from supporters and criticism from opponents. Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Obama was "dithering," too inexperienced to make a decision on the troop buildup requested in September by commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Senior officials said Obama also would underscore his commitment to stabilizing Afghanistan and scouring corruption out of the government of President Hamid Karzai. Obama has vowed to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for al-Qaida boss Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization.
Most of the new forces will be combat troops. Military officials said the Army brigades most likely to be sent will come from Fort Drum in New York and Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Marines, who will be the vanguard, will most likely come primarily from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
There will be about 5,000 dedicated trainers in the 30,000, showing the emphasis on preparing Afghans to take over their own security. And the president is making clear to his generals that all troops, even if designated as combat, must consider themselves trainers.
Announcing a start to a U.S. withdrawal by July 2011 does not tie the United States to an "end date" for the war, officials said. They all spoke on condition of anonymity because the speech had not been delivered.
The address could become a defining moment of the Obama presidency, a political gamble that may weigh heavily on his chances for a second White House term. It represents the beginning of a sales job to restore support for the war effort among an American public grown increasingly pessimistic about success — and among some fellow Democrats in Congress wary of or even opposed to spending billions more dollars and putting tens of thousands more U.S. soldiers and Marines in harm's way.
A new survey by the Gallup organization, released Tuesday, showed only 35 percent of Americans now approve of Obama's handling of the war; 55 percent disapprove.
Even before the president spoke, his plan was met with skepticism in Congress, where Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and liberal House Democrats threatened to try to block funding for the troop increase.
Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs a military oversight panel, said he didn't think Democrats would yank funding for the troops or try to force Obama's hand to pull them out faster. But Democrats will be looking for ways to pay for the additional troops, he said, including a tax increase on the wealthy although that hike is already being eyed to pay for health care costs. Another possibility is imposing a small gasoline tax that would be phased out if gas prices go up, he said.
Meanwhile, Republicans said that setting a timetable for withdrawal would demonstrate weakness.
"The way that you win wars is to break the enemy's will, not to announce dates that you are leaving," said Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and Obama's campaign rival in last year's presidential race.
If the timeline for the troop increase holds, it will require a costly logistical scramble to send in so many people and so much equipment almost entirely by air. It will also probably require breaking at least an implicit promise to some soldiers who had thought they would have more than 12 months at home before their next deployment.
At the same time, NATO diplomats said Obama was asking alliance partners in Europe to add 5,000 to 10,000 troops to the separate international force in Afghanistan. Indications were the allies would agree to a number somewhere in that range. The war has even less support in Europe than in the United States, and the NATO allies and other countries currently have about 40,000 troops on the ground.
The main mission of the new troops will be to reverse Taliban gains and secure population centers in the country's volatile south and east. The addition of some Marines before year's end would provide badly needed reinforcements to those fighting against Taliban gains in southern Helmand province.
Obama briefed dozens of key lawmakers Tuesday afternoon, before setting off for West Point.
Late Monday, the president spent an hour on a video conference call with Karzai. The White House said Obama told the Afghan leader "that U.S. and international efforts in Afghanistan are not open-ended and must be evaluated toward measurable and achievable goals within the next 18 to 24 months."
On Tuesday Obama contacted Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to tell him the United States wanted to open a long-term commercial and security relationship. Obama also had planned to speak of a need to help Pakistan stabilize itself from the threats it faces not only from al-Qaida but Taliban forces that are increasingly behind terrorist bombings in that country, officials said.
The United States went to war in Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the United States.
Bin Laden and key members of the terrorist organization were headquartered in Afghanistan at the time, taking advantage of sanctuary afforded by the Taliban government that ran the mountainous and isolated country.
Taliban forces were quickly driven from power, while bin Laden and his top deputies were believed to have fled through towering mountains into neighboring Pakistan. While the al-Qaida leadership appears to be bottled up in Pakistan's largely ungoverned tribal regions, the U.S. military strategy of targeted missile attacks from unmanned drone aircraft has yet to flush bin Laden and his cohorts from hiding.
AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven and National Security Writer Anne Gearan contributed to this report.
In a “pull-the-plug” ceremony at its Moorestown facility, Lockheed Martin marked the successful completion of a full range of acceptance tests conducted over several months to verify system performance. This milestone indicates the Aegis system is now ready for shipboard installation on HOBART, the first of Australia’s three planned Aegis-equipped destroyers.
In 2007, the U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to equip the three Australian ships with the Aegis. The first AWD-1 system will now be packed and shipped to ASC Shipyard in Adelaide, South Australia. HOBART is expected to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy in December 2014.
“This ceremony represents the culmination of an exceptional effort to deliver a tested Aegis Weapon System for the Australia Air Warfare Destroyer,” said Rear Admiral Terry Benedict, Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems, U.S. Navy. “I want to congratulate the AWD Team, both in Australia and in the United States, on this significant achievement.”
“We are so pleased to be a part of this international effort,” said Orlando Carvalho, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Surface/Sea-based Missile Defense business based in Moorestown. “The Lockheed Martin team, along with our U.S. Navy and Australian industry partners, the Defense Materiel Organization, Raytheon Australia and ASC Shipbuilding, continue to deliver the world’s finest combat system to our customers, and that makes all of us very proud to be part of this program.”
The Aegis system enables destroyers to engage simultaneous threats from under the sea, the surface and the air. The 92 Aegis-equipped ships currently in service around the globe have more than 950 years of at-sea operational experience and have launched more than 3,500 missiles in tests and real-world operations. In addition to the U.S. and Australia, Aegis is the maritime weapon system of choice for Japan, Norway, South Korea and Spain.
Lockheed Martin is a world leader in systems integration and the development of air and missile defense systems and technologies. It also has considerable experience in interceptor systems, kill vehicles, battle management command, control and communications, precision pointing and tracking optics, as well as radar and other sensors that enable signal processing and data fusion. The company makes significant contributions to nearly all major U.S. Missile Defense Systems and participates in several global missile defense partnerships.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.
