Race to build JLTV grows to 6

Race to build JLTV grows to 6

By Wednesday, March 28th, 2012 4:12 pm
Posted in Land

What was once thought to be a four-horse race to build the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle has expanded now to six competitors after AM General announced it submitted an independent proposal to replace the Humvee.

This comes as a surprise since AM General had already teamed with General Tactical Vehicles on a bid. AM General leaders said they plan to continue to work with General Tactical Vehicles on a dual bid, but will also offer an independent vehicle called the Blast-Resistant Vehicle-Off Road (BRV-O).

AM General’s additional submission is the third surprise of the week in the JLTV competition. Navistar shocked many when it split with BAE Systems to submit their own bid. Ford Motor Co. then joined the competition by agreeing to build the engine that will power BAE Systems’ vehicle.


AM General, long time manufacturer of the Humvee, started to discuss producing an independent bid once the Army announced it would pivot from a developmental program to a competition focused on off-the-shelf technologies, said Chris Vanslager, an AM General executive. This isn’t the first time a defense company has submitted an independent bid while teaming on a separate bid in the same competition, Vanslager said. He emphasized that AM General’s independent submission will not take away from their work with General Tactical Vehicles.

AM General received a lot of attention for their “chimney” technology they planned to use in a vehicle for the Humvee recap program. The chimney built into the center of the upgraded Humvee vented a blast from underneath the truck. However, Vanslager said the company has no plans to build the chimney into the BRV-O.

AM General will join teams led by Oshkosh, BAE Systems, Navistar, Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicles. The Defense Department plans to pick three defense teams for the 27-month engineering and manufacturing development phase of the competition.

The Army plans to buy at least 50,000 JLTV while the Marine Corps plans to buy another 2,500 at a price tag no higher than $250,000 per vehicle. Two JLTV variants will be built: the Combat Tactical Vehicle that can carry four troops and the Combat Support Vehicle that carries only two, but also an additional 1,600 pounds.

Industry leaders said program managers blew the competition open when it announced it would entertain submissions from companies who didn’t take part in the technology development phase and emphasized the need to keep the vehicle affordable by using off-the-shelf technologies.

Like AM General, Navistar officials said they didn’t consider an independent bid until the Army redefined the program in an effort to save it after the Senate Armed Services Committee recommended axing it with requirements and costs spiraling out of control.

BAE Systems JLTV Capture Lead Glenn Lamartin admitted he found it peculiar for a partner company to build a separate vehicle so similar to their joint venture. Navistar spokeswoman Elisa Koc said that as requirements changed so did Navistar’s plans for their submission to the JLTV competition.

John Bryant, an Oshkosh executive, said his company is not worried about the additional competition. The competition still consists of many of the same players it did when it started outside of Ford. Oshkosh plans to lean on its experience building the MRAP All Terrain Vehicle with its submission of the Light Combat Tactical All Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV).

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moose March 28th, 2012 at 5:25 pm

It would be an even larger number, but the time from the announcement that the competition would be widened came to close to yesterday’s deadline for more teams to get in. As John Bryant points out, other than Ford’s entrance as a BAE Systems subcontractor, no additional companies have joined the competition as leads or major partners. After announcing they were opening it up, the JLTV managers should have pushed the deadline back 3–6 months and allowed thus enabled even more bids. But they’re so terrified of Congress axing the program they couldn’t bring themselves to do so.

TMB March 28th, 2012 at 7:51 pm

“AM General will join teams led by Oshkosh, BAE Systems, Navistar, Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicles. The Defense Department plans to pick three defense teams for the 27-month engineering and manufacturing development phase of the competition.”

Wasn’t this phase supposed to kick off in early 2009 with BAE, LockMart, and General Tactical? I think I’m missing what happened over the last 3 years of the program that reset the timeline.

Brian March 28th, 2012 at 9:19 pm

No, that was the TD phase. It was always meant to be followed by an EMD phase.

TMB March 28th, 2012 at 9:27 pm

So there was a down-select only to add 3 more companies later? Odd.

Lance March 29th, 2012 at 12:49 am

Let the circus begin there will be zig zags all over this program and when sequestration hits next year the games will only grow more intense and weird to save this program. Over all Oshkosh looks the most promising. This is alot more use ful than the crap GCV which needs to die M-3 can do everything those over sized targets GCVs can do.

Brian March 29th, 2012 at 10:29 am

The point is that TD did kick off in 2009. It did what a TD phase is suppossed to do, which is take a paper specification, so a wish list, and compare it against reality so that that spec could be adjusted. I’m not trying to claim that this is right or smart or good business or bad busienss, just that it’s all pretty normal in a major development program.

FirstDavid March 29th, 2012 at 12:51 pm

The Army withdrew their original RFP after the TD phase had gotten past the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) phase. Somebody noticed that it was impossible to meet the spec for under $1M per copy. Good on the Army for doing the right thing; bad on the Army for taking that long to figure out that they were asking for way too much to begin with.

FirstDavid March 29th, 2012 at 1:06 pm

Correction — I was confusing this with another program. Rather than withdraw the RFP, the Army simply announced a cost cap, while relaxing the transportability requirements. (Changing the requirements without issuing a new RFP is called “bait and switch”). Now they’re in the “believing the contractors when they say they can do it for that much” phase, which will presumably be followed by an “admitting that relaxing the transportability requirement doesn’t actually cut cost in half” phase, followed by an optional “cancelling the whole thing” phase.

majrod March 29th, 2012 at 2:20 pm

What’s an M-3?

Armored March 29th, 2012 at 3:10 pm

I thought Hardwire was working on a submission?

Lance March 29th, 2012 at 3:28 pm

the M-2 and M-3 are the Bradly IFV the M-2 is the infantry personnel carrier the M-3 is the Scout version.

Lem Genovese April 5th, 2012 at 12:57 am

1.) Crew survivability
2.) Better than HMV visability
3.) Better than HMV gas mileage
4.) Easier to maintain than the HMV
5.) Component drive train, engine and suspension easy to replace
6.) More durable than the HMV
7.) Able to adapt to different weapon systems integration easily ( M-240, SAW, .50 cal MG etc )

Militor April 5th, 2012 at 5:14 pm

I think more than a few Companies are wondering ? I thought the Competition was closed, and that is how the final three teams came about. And I guess if your Ford or Navistar, you can do what ever you want? Oh.. I get it.
Everyone is invited at first… Bring your designs and ideas, let us look at em, then let us take the ideas we want…
then share those ideas with our friends.… or future employers… narrow the field…make up rules as we go..
change the prices and requirements.… keep moving the target… but only tell our friends what we might need next to get money from the Senate or Congress„, What a Scam! The JLTV program is a Giant SCAM! Just watch the video of the Lockheed JLTV rolling over.. Later the Army will say, ” We are doing everything we can to provide the safest, most advanced fighting vehicles available. ” Even if they roll over. The JLTV selection will boil down to who spends the most money on hores not engineers. None of the JLTV ‘s are modern. None of them meet the weight limits. Better designs exist. By the way DOD Buzz. You should not sensor or delay the emails. You loose something when that happens. You look soft.

Armored June 5th, 2012 at 11:42 am

Hardwire submitted a bid as well, making the total 7

Elijah August 23rd, 2012 at 2:14 pm

Faith is the substance hoped for. Take care of the mustard seeds. I think some of the guys really needs to read about Caleb.

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