Oshkosh has just started delivering Joint Light Tactical Vehicles to replace the military’s iconic and under-armored Humvee, but it’s already got its sights — literally — on the next big thing. The Army is looking for a Light Reconnaissance Vehicle to scout ahead of its infantry units, and after exploring a purpose-built vehicle, it decided…
By Colin ClarkA new approach to speed, scale and efficiency for the industrial base
Radars, EW, EO/IR, space imagery, and microelectronics are brought under one roof for a streamlined approach to common people and factories.
After a summer of speculation and anticipation, truck maker Oshkosh is rolling out the much-awaited upgunned variant of its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, meant to scout ahead of Army infantry. While Oshkosh didn’t confirm or deny they were going for the Army’s Light Reconnaissance Vehicle requirement with this upgrade, it’s an extremely open secret. Adding a…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AM General will sell Afghanistan 1,259 M1151 Humvees plus 414 M1152 models. Humvee maker AM General just announced a $356 million contract to build 1,673 Humvees for Afghanistan. (The US is paying). It goes to show that even after losing the biggest military wheeled-vehicle contract of the century, AM General just keeps trucking along. Last…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: Lockheed Martin just dropped its suit against the government for awarding the giant Joint Light Tactical Vehicle contract to truck-maker Oshkosh. Why now? “After careful deliberation, Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its protest of the JLTV contract award decision in the Court of Federal Claims” was all the company would say. But it turns out…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. WASHINGTON: The world’s largest arms maker, Lockheed Martin, is about to take the government to court over the contract to replace the Humvee. When the Army awarded the first 17,000 of a projected 55,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles to Oshkosh in August, losing bidder Lockheed filed an administrative protest with the Government Accountability Office. But…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: It may have happened before but I can’t remember when the top acquisition officials of two of the three services announced their resignations in the same month — let alone on the same day. But both Bill LaPlante, the lead buyer for the Air Force, and Heidi Shyu, his counterpart at the Army, did just…
By Colin Clark Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is protesting the Army’s award of the 55,000-truck Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program to rival Oshkosh. The other losing bidder, Humvee-maker AM General, announced today that it will not protest. Lockheed provided me the following statement after I asked them about the AM General announcement: “After evaluating the data provided at…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
A major overhaul is coming in software for missile warning
Space Systems Command’s FORGE program is the first, major missile-warning software modernization effort in 20 years.
PENTAGON: You wouldn’t have known it from the way the Army announced it, but the service awarded arguably its most important contract in a decade this evening to build the first 17,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) to Oshkosh. “The JLTV production contract is a historic win for Oshkosh Corporation and more than 300 suppliers in 31…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: “Go drive it, Sydney,” Heidi Shyu called out across a room. “I want you to go drive it. It’s awesome.” “It” is the JLTV, the Army and Marine Corps’ future Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a $30 billion program for 55,000 vehicles. As the Army’s top acquisition official, Shyu will choose the winning contractor — –…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Not every vote on a Pentagon program is cast in Washington, DC. Today, the Arkansas state legislature convened in special session to decide on an $87 million bond issue to benefit aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. The “super project” at stake — to use the Arkansas statute’s term of art — is the expansion of Lockheed’s…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: The hearing season is roaring ahead at full tilt, with senior officials at five defense hearings on Wednesday. Here’s our preview of some of the likely topics and issues. The most interesting to Breaking Defense readers probably will be the unique pairing of the four Army and Air Force leaders before the full Senate…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: The top question on defense lawmakers’ minds right now is: “Can we trust you with the people’s money?” And no large military organization has a worse record in that respect than the US Army, with its unhappy track record of canceled programs and wasted billions dating to before 9/11. It’s such a sensitive and high-stakes question that, when I started to ask Army…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
PENTAGON: After years of cuts and cancelled programs, tanks and other armored vehicles are beginning a comeback. In contrast to other investments in the 2016 budget request released today, the ground vehicle increases have so much congressional backing — and involve such relatively small amounts — that they’re actually likely to happen. Four tracked vehicle…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The race to replace the iconic Humvee has entered its final stretch. Today, the Army gave competing contractors AM General, Oshkosh, and Lockheed Martin the final Request For Proposal for production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The competitors have until February 5 to ask the government questions and must submit their proposals by Feb.…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
