The U.S. Army has announced the selection of three Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) firm-fixed contracts for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Family of Vehicles (FoV). [See DMN: “Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV): And Then There Were SIX?” posted April 9, 2012].

The EMD awards were made to AM General, LLC, South Bend, Ind.; Lockheed Martin Corporation, Grand Prairie, Texas; and Oshkosh Corporation, Oshkosh, Wisc.

“In developing the requirements for this new vehicle we collaborated closely with the Marine Corps and Industry, incorporating the collective lessons learned over the past decade of war. I am confident when all is said and done we will achieve the most capable, affordable vehicle that optimizes performance, payload, and soldier protection in our light tactical vehicle fleet for the future,” said Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Lloyd Austin.

“This award is a significant milestone that brings JLTV closer to fruition, and reflects very successful collaboration between the Army and Marine Corps. Our teamwork will provide another much needed capability to both soldiers and Marines while keeping cost and requirements in line,” added Lt. Gen. William Phillips, Military Deputy/Director, Army Acquisition Corps, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology).

The AM General JLTV design is based on the Blast Resistant Vehicle – Off road (BRV-O), which the company ties to “more than a decade of AM General investments in research, development and testing for this next-generation light tactical military vehicle.”

According to company descriptions, “Its mobility technology, matured to meet warfighter demands, accumulated more than 300,000 operational test miles and demonstrated high reliability and maintainability. BRV-O features a crew capsule and modular armor already proven effective in government-supervised blast testing. The BRV-O design can be readily adapted to future changes in U.S. military missions, enemy threats and new protection technologies as they emerge.  BRV-O also features AM General’s lightweight, fuel efficient and high performance engine and transmission powertrain; a self-leveling suspension system; a C4ISR backbone with open-standard networked architecture and clustered super-computing power; and other advanced components.”

Describing the Lockheed Martin JLTV design, Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, pointed to its “proven capability for soldiers and Marines,” offering that testing to date “has shown that JLTV meets protection standards for IED protected vehicles while weighing approximately 40 percent less than all terrain models deployed in theater today.”

“After seeing what was possible in TD [Technology Development phase] this new design is about making it a reality for production and the warfighter,” he added.

The Oshkosh JLTV solution, called the Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV), reflects several years of independent R&D development by Oshkosh.

“The Oshkosh JLTV solution was designed with a purpose – to keep warfighters safe on future battlefields with unpredictable terrain, tactics, and threats,” said John Bryant, vice president and general manager of Joint and Marine Corps Programs for Oshkosh Defense.  “Oshkosh has a 90-year history of delivering high quality military vehicle programs on-time and on-budget, and our JLTV program is no exception.  We understand how critical this light, protected, off-road vehicle will be to warfighters.”

The EMD phase for the JLTV program is scheduled to last 33 months. EMD Contracts include delivery of 22 full-up prototypes (to be delivered starting 12 months after contract award) and contractor support to the comprehensive 14 month government test program (blast, automotive, user evaluation).