DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Army Expected To Pick JLTV Winner Soon

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Army Expected To Pick JLTV Winner Soon

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Brendan McGarry | Wednesday, August 19th, 2015 7:36 pm

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 20, 2015: Defense contractors competing for a contract to build the U.S. military’s replacement to the iconic Humvee are eagerly awaiting a decision from the Army.

Humvee-maker AM General, truck-maker Oshkosh Corp. and defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin Corp. are vying to begin production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV.

An announcement on which company will be chosen to build the first 17,000 production models of the vehicle is expected either this week or next, sources told Military​.com.

Overall, the Army and the Marine Corps plan to buy a total of 54,720 JLTVs to replace about a third of the Humvee fleet at an estimated cost of more than $30 billion, or about $559,000 per vehicle, according to Pentagon budget documents.

That figure, which rose from earlier estimates, includes expenses for research and development, overhead and add-on equipment such as radios, weapons and armor. Officials have said the cost of manufacturing the vehicle alone will be about $250,000.

The companies submitted their final bids to the Army in February. Each of the firms previously delivered 22 prototypes for testing under an earlier contract.

Over the past decade, the Pentagon spent nearly $50 billion buying 25,000 or so of the bigger, mine-resistant ambush protected, or MRAP, vehicles as part of a rapid-acquisition effort spearheaded by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates to better protect troops from roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thousands of the hulking vehicles were subsequently scrapped, mothballed or handed down to local police departments because the military never intended them to be a permanent part of the tactical wheeled vehicle fleet.

Now, the Army and Marine Corps are trying to incorporate some of the lessons learned from the wars into a lighter vehicle. “As we move forward, it will be a central piece of the Army,” former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said in June of the JLTV.


*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Brendan McGarry | Wednesday, August 19th, 2015 7:36 pm
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Lockheed Unveils Fourth Operational JLTV Prototype / Lockheed Martin Unveils Fourth Operational JLTV Prototype At AUSA Winter Symposium

Lockheed Unveils Fourth Operational JLTV Prototype / Lockheed Martin Unveils Fourth Operational JLTV Prototype At AUSA Winter Symposium US Army Announce JLTV Winners GTV, Navistar-BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin will develop three competing designs for final selection within 27 months. (NSI News Source Info) February 27, 2009: The U.S. Army narrowed the list of potential JLTV bidders to three, awarding development contracts for each of the three teams, to continue the 27 month technology development of the proposed Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The finalist to be selected at the end of this phase could win orders to deliver more than 60,000 armored vehicles over an eight year span augmenting and replacing part of the 160,000 HMMWVs currently in service with U.S. armed services. According to Lt. Col. Wolfgang Petermann, JLTV Product Manager for the Army the new vehicle will replace part of the HMMWV fleet but is not intended to serve as a direct replacement for that vehicle. The new program could be worth over $40 billion over the next decade. The Pentagon evaluated proposals and models submitted by six teams, and awarded development contracts to three of the teams. General Tactical Vehicles group, combining General Dynamics Land Systems and HMMWV maker AM General was awarded $45 million; the Navistar-BAE Systems team received $40.5 million and Lockheed Martin, also teamed with BAE Systems received $36 million contracts. The later was a cost plus fixed fee contract while the first two are cost share awards. Three of the losing teams filed protests on the selection decision, causing the Army to issue 'Stop Work' order pending a decision by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Each of the teams selected will be asked to build four test vehicles during the first 15 months, to be followed by a test phase that could last another year. One or two winning teams will receive Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contracts by 2011, to begin production of vehicles, and accelerate production over the next 24 months. According to Lt. Col. Ben Garza, JLTV Program Manager for the US Marine Corps, the test and evaluation phase will include testing of the vehicle's armor and ballistic hulls, the vehicle and trailers will undergo performance and reliability testing, including assessments from joint warfighters. Furthermore, the teams will have to demonstrate a 'family of vehicles' approach across the three payload categories and share a commonality of components, demonstrate technical maturity, requirements achievability and integration capabilities. While the winners of the contracts will ultimately produce refined prototypes of the vehicles at the end of the current technology demonstration phase, the Army's current intention is to hold another full and open competition for the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase which will allow all interested parties to compete. The Pentagon is also interested in extending international involvement in program. Australia has officially endorsed the program and is interested to commit by 2010, as the vehicle design is matured. Britain, Israel and Canada are also interested and were reported to be discussing possible co-development funding.

On February 17, 2009 GAO denied protests filed in November last year by three teams that lost the initial selection process of the Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle - Textron-Boeing-SAIC, Northrop Grumman-Oshkosh and Force Protection. The GAO decision will enable Pentagon to launch the 15 month program designing and manufacturing 12 vehicles for subsequent testing, leading to a procurement decision in 2011. After the filing of the protest, the Army issued stop work orders to the winning companies, an action that could have delayed the program by few months.

JLTV Edges Closer To Entering Technology Development

JLTV Edges Closer To Entering Technology Development

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Army/Marine Corps Preproposal Conference

By David Branham, PEO Land Systems Public Affairs Officer

(NSI News Source Info) February 22, 2009: The Army and Marine Corps co-hosted a three-day preproposal conference Feb. 19-21 at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., to inform industry of the U.S. Government’s acquisition strategy for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program. JLTV is a joint Army-Marine Corps program with the Army designated as the lead service. The conference came two weeks on the heels of the Army’s Feb. 5 release of a request for proposal (RFP), which invited suppliers, through a full and open competition process, to submit proposals for the development of a JLTV family of vehicles (FoV). The Office of Naval Research Combat Tactical Vehicle Technology Demonstrator is tested on the unimproved roads of the Nevada Automotive Test Center, Nev. The JLTV FoV and companion trailers can perform multiple mission roles. They will be designed to provide protected, sustained, networked mobility for people and payloads across the full range of military operations. JLTV provides a vehicle platform that will use, to the greatest degree possible, solutions and technology being developed in the Army's Future Combat Systems program; Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC); Army Research Lab; and Office of Naval Research as well as commercial industry advances. The JLTV FoV will be used by all U.S. military services. Several foreign governments have already expressed a strong interest in joining the development of the JLTV vehicles. Presentations included the earned value management process that the JLTV program will use to control cost, stay on schedule and achieve performance objectives. The conference included many presenters from all program areas of expertise that gave industry detailed guidance on how to craft their proposal to address the four important evaluation factors: technical; logistics commonality; cost; and past performance-small business participation. The government also shared lessons learned from various research efforts and displayed vehicles developed under the Army’s Future Tactical Truck System Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, and Office of Naval Research Combat Tactical Vehicle Technology Demonstrator. Despite a Midwest snowstorm and frigid temperatures in the teens, the conference was attended by more than 200 Industry representatives, along with international attendees. “Today was a great meeting at Selfridge, and we are excited to be part of this program,” said Kenneth G. Juergens, JLTV Program Director for the Northrop Grumman-Oshkosh Truck Corporation Team, who traveled to the conference from Oshkosh, Wis. Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh Corporation announced a teaming arrangement last fall. Several industry teaming efforts also have been formed to compete for JLTV contracts along with a few companies whose partnering plans are yet unannounced. They are: -- Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh Corp. -- General Tactical Vehicle, a Joint Venture between AM General & General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) -- Lockheed Martin and BAE (formerly Armor Holdings) -- BAE Systems and International Military and Government (IMG), LLC, an affiliate of Navistar International Corporation (International Military and Government LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Truck and Engine Corporation) -- Boeing, Textron and SAIC -- DRS Sustainment Systems Inc. and Force Protection Inc. “I got a lot out of this,” said Michael Franklin, a member of the BAE Systems Team, who traveled from just outside Los Angeles, Calif., to attend the conference. “You can only get so much information from a [Army’s JLTV] Web site. This forum allowed time for networking and just talking with others, which I found very helpful.” "This was an important investment of time for key industry representatives to come to Selfridge. They could fully understand the entire scope and direction of the JLTV effort and hear the government’s “lessons learned” during more than three years of precursor research and development efforts,” said Colonel John “Steve” Myers, Project Manager, Joint Combat Support Systems. Asked what’s next in the JLTV way ahead, Myers said the government will convene an evaluation board in April to review industry proposals to the JLTV RFP. “The board, comprised of subject matter experts from across the Department of Defense, will evaluate submitted proposals, and we expect to make three contract awards based on ‘best value’ to the government in July 2008,” Myers said. “This will then launch the planned contract performance of the Technology Development Phase wherein the JLTV prototypes will be developed and tested.” A system development demonstration phase is planned to get underway in 2011 for the JLTV. Two contractors will complete the design and development of the JLTV FoV and companion trailers and ultimately compete to produce and field multiple JLTV variants. “Pre-proposal conferences like this one are essential in ensuring we are as open and transparent as we possibly can be,” said Lieutenant Colonel Wolfgang Petermann, JLTV Army Product Manager. “Every large, medium and small business represented here goes away with the same amount of information, knowing it is a level playing field.” “It is exciting to see how far we have already come in this program,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ben Garza, Marine Corps JLTV Program Manager. “We have an achievable schedule, and the overwhelming turnout by industry shows how successful this program is going to be.”

U.S. Army New Utility Vehicle Light (UVL) By Lockheed Martin

U.S. Army New Utility Vehicle Light (UVL) By Lockheed Martin

(NSI News Source Info) February 18, 2009:The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Feb. 17 denied a protest - filed by Northrop Grumman-Oshkosh and Textron-Boeing-SAIC - of the Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) contract award decision, GAO officials said. The Utility Vehicle Light (UVL) Payload Category C was the second Joint Light Tactical Vehicle prototype that Lockheed Martin developed. (Lockheed Martin) The GAO's report is complete but being held under protective order for the time being, a procurement official with the agency said. In October, the Army awarded three $60 million technology development deals to a BAE Systems-Navistar team, Lockheed Martin-BAE Systems team, and an AM General-General Dynamics team called General Tactical Vehicles. The following month, the Northrop-Oshkosh and Textron-Boeing-SAIC teams protested the Army's decision, alleging, among other things, that the selection process emphasized the existence of demonstrator vehicles despite no written requirement in the request for bids. More details regarding the GAO's findings will be made available in the coming days.

AM General Wins $252M for Humvees / Pentagon Contract Announcement

AM General Wins $252M for Humvees / Pentagon Contract Announcement (NSI News Source Info) January 5, 2009: AM General, LLC, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on Dec. 30, 2008 a $252,202,191 firm/fixed/price contract to add 1,698 EA High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles to contract.

Work will be performed in Mishawaka, Ind., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid received. Tank and Automotive Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).