Three companies — Oshkosh, Lockheed Martin and AM General — continue to vie for the U.S. Army’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) contract, which calls for the production of a vehicle that would replace thousands of Army and Marine Corps Humvees.
According to National Defense Magazine, Pentagon officials have praised the acquisition program as an incentive for developers to focus on enhanced vehicle capabilities.
“When we think about the capability we will need in the future, JLTV is a model program,” Shyu said May 6 at the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Conference in Reston, Virginia. “We have just done an exceptional job at executing that program.
“There is a huge focus on capability as opposed to a sole-source up front,” she said. “When there is a competition, I guarantee every one of those companies wants to win.”
As National Defense Magazine reports, the U.S. Army awarded engineering and manufacturing development contracts to the three companies last year. Each of them delivered 22 prototypes for field tests which are currently being conducted.
Currently, the U.S. Army plans on buying 49,000 JLTVs, while the Marine Corps will purchase 5,500. The Army will make a source selection based on the outcome of the field tests, with an expected delivery goal of July 2015, National Defense Magazine said.
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