News

2014-11-01

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Development Gathers Pace

Testing well under way, final selection for US contract next year

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is being developed by the US Army and the Marine Corps as a successor to the high-mobility, multi-wheeled vehicle (HMMWV), which has been in service since 1985.

The companies awarded the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase contracts were AM General, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Oshkosh Corporation.

Last September the Army began JLTV testing at proving grounds. The Army then plans to select a single vendor by 2015, with the first Army brigade being equipped with JLTVs by 2018.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense recently conducted an interim review of the JLTV program and found it is likely to meet all key performance parameters.

The JLTV is an US Army-led, multi-service initiative to develop a family of future light tactical vehicles to replace many of the HMMWVs used by the armed services today. HMMWVs, which first entered service in 1985, were developed during the Cold War when improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other anti-vehicle explosive devices were not a major factor in military planning.

The JLTV program is a joint Army/Marine Corps effort to develop and produce both vehicles and associated trailers. Originally, there were three variants, but now there are two planned JLTV variants: a four-passenger Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) and a two-passenger Combat Support Vehicle (CSV).

As planned, JLTVs would be more mechanically reliable, maintainable (with onboard diagnostics), all-terrain mobile, and equipped to link into current and future tactical data nets. Survivability and strategic and operational transportability by ship and aircraft are also key JLTV design requirements.

In February 2011, the JLTV Program Office announced the award of the EMD contract would be delayed until January or February 2012 because the Army changed requirements for the JLTV to have the same level of under-body protection as the mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicle (M-ATV). DOD had planned to award two contracts for the EMD phase, which was scheduled to last 24 months, but instead opted for a 48-month-long EMD phase.

The Category B variant was eliminated because it proved to be too heavy to meet the required weight of approximately 15,639 pounds to make it transportable by Army CH-47F and Marine Corps CH-53K helicopters. Now there will be two variants - a combat tactical vehicle (CTV), which can transport four passengers and carry 3,500 pounds, and a combat support vehicle (CSV), which can transport two passengers and carry 5,100 pounds.

According to the Defense Department, the US Army plans to procure 49,909 JLTVs from financial year 2015 to financial year 2040 and the Marines 5,500 JLTVs from financial year 2015 to financial year 2021.

The Marines have reportedly decided to cancel their HMMWV upgrade program and will instead invest the funds in the JLTV program.

A14-month comprehensive government testing program includes blast, automotive, and user evaluation testing.

In September 2013, Army officials announced that full-pace, full-scope testing of the JLTV had started and would last for 14 months. Each of the three vendors delivered 22 vehicles and six trailers for testing to three sites The Army plans to start a source-selection evaluation in early 2015 and select a single vendor by July 2015.

Three Vendors Deliver 22 Vehicles for Testing

Lockheed Martin’s JLTV

The Lockheed Martin Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program successfully completed the government’s production readiness review. The Lockheed Martin team had also successfully completed a government manufacturing readiness assessment late last year.

As the only contractor in the JLTV competition to have won a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Manufacturing Excellence, Lockheed Martin will perform final assembly of JLTV at its Camden facility with support from long-time military vehicle manufacturer and partner BAE Systems.

“Lockheed Martin’s Camden Operations is one of the most recognized and highly awarded military-equipment manufacturing operations in the United States, with a reputation for producing high quality systems on-schedule, and at a very competitive cost. We wanted to leave no doubt to our Army and Marine customers that we’re ready to build JLTVs in Camden,” Greene said.

The Lockheed Martin team’s JLTV is systems-engineered to provide crew protection comparable to mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, while returning crucial mobility, reliability and transportability to soldiers and marines. Lockheed Martin’s JLTV pioneered the single level of protection approach for both the Army and Marine Corps, demonstrating protection above that of the smaller MRAP vehicles fielded in-theater.

A patented Meritor Pro-Tec all-independent air-ride suspension brings unprecedented agility and off-road mobility to this class of vehicles, while the dependable Cummins turbo diesel and Allison transmission combine abundant power with exceptional fuel efficiency. Rounding out the vehicle’s portfolio of capabilities is on-board and exportable power-generation with substantial margin for future growth, and state-of-the art connectivity with other platforms.

Oshkosh JLTV

Oshkosh Defense, an Oshkosh company, has successfully completed the US Government’s production readiness review (PRR). The PRR milestone included a review of Oshkosh’s manufacturing readiness status, quality management system and production planning capabilities to assure schedule, performance and cost requirements will be achieved in the upcoming production phase.

“Oshkosh Defense’s production readiness review demonstrated that we are ready to start JLTV production on an active and proven production line that is already building heavy, medium and protected MRAP military vehicles for our armed forces today,” said US Army Major General (Retired), John Urias, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president of Oshkosh Defense.

“Throughout the EMD phase we’ve been preparing our facilities, personnel and systems to seamlessly transition into production. In fact, we built our 22 EMD vehicles on our active assembly line in early 2013.”

The Oshkosh Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle, or L-ATV, is the company’s JLTV solution. The L-ATV’s lightweight, compact design leverages 10 years of research and development, as well as field operating experience to deliver an unprecedented combination of off-road mobility, survivability, speed and reliability.

By applying advanced components and materials, and a fully-integrated systems engineering process, Oshkosh delivers the Core1080 crew protection system. Core1080 has been proven on multiple vehicle platforms and credited for saving thousands of troops’ lives over the past decade.

Core1080 crew protection isn’t just a layer of armor or a seat – it’s a comprehensive design and testing approach that has been proven to increase survivability and give troops confidence as they complete their missions outside the wire.

Oshkosh merges key design elements of highly survivable combat vehicles and off-road tactical vehicles to operate in a range of threat levels and terrains. Independent testing proves that the L-ATV delivers superior ride quality at speeds 70 per cent faster than today’s top-performing tactical wheeled vehicles

AM General’s BRV-O

AM General’s independent proposal for the US military’s new JLTV, was selected for a $64.5 million engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) phase contract. AM General will produce and deliver 22 prototypes of its blast resistant vehicle – off-road (BRV-O) for government testing under the EMD phase.

“We are pleased to receive this contract award for the next step in the JLTV program,” said Charles M. Hall, president and CEO of AM General. “It’s a tribute to the design, engineering and program management team that developed, built and tested BRV-O, and to the AM General workforce that has established such a great track record of supporting our military customers with innovative, affordable and dependable light tactical vehicle products and services for more than five decades.

“As the most experienced tactical wheeled vehicle provider in the United States, AM General is uniquely focused on meeting the needs of the US armed forces and our team is prepared to move forward – shoulder to-shoulder with our customer - on this critical national initiative. BRV-O is ready now to meet warfighters’ demands for a new light tactical vehicle.”

BRV-O is based on more than a decade of AM General investments in research, development and testing for this next-generation light tactical military vehicle. 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 US 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.

Ref/Photo Credit:Oshkosh, Lockheed Martin, AM General. Andrew Feickert, Specialist in Military Ground Forces

Comments () Views (10919 ) Print

Send To Friend