[CORRECTED data on competitor Oshkosh] LOCKHEED MARTIN “LIGHTHOUSE,” SUFFOLK, VA: “We’re in a really tough competition…a knife fight in [a] phone booth,” said Tom Kelly, who runs Lockheed Martin’s government relations for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program. In the defense contracting world writ large, Lockheed is the 800-pound gorilla. In the three-way competition to replace…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Future inevitability of quantum computers is a security problem today
‘Store Now, Decrypt Later’ attacks must be thwarted now with Zero Trust cybersecurity.
AUSA: It may sound ambitious, even hubristic, that the Army wants to fold all its modernization programs into a single 30-year plan. But the long-range look is all about living within limits. The service wants to keep researching and developing 21st century weapons like the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) truck and the tank-like Ground…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.PENTAGON: Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos laid out today the Corps’ tricky balancing act, simultaneously cutting personnel, spreading out weapons programs, and shifting from counterinsurgency on land in Afghanistan to seaborne crisis response in the Pacific. The big Marine Corps news of the last 24 hours was the award of development contracts to three firms,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.[updated 4:00 pm with AM General comment] The Army and Marines took a big step towards replacing their vulnerable Humvees and lumbering MRAPs yesterday evening when they awarded contracts to defense giant Lockheed Martin, truck maker Oshkosh, and Humvee manufacturer AM General to develop alternatives for a new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). The military…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.After years of ups and downs and threats of cancellation, the Army and Marines are about to award contracts to develop a new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to replace the venerable and vulnerable Humvee. In an exclusive interview with Breaking Defense, retired Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli — the man who did…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: The military Reserves and National Guard have spent a decade operating with unprecedented intensity alongside the regular active-duty force in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, as budget cuts loom, their leaders are fighting hard to keep the funding needed to keep their edge in both training and equipment. Going back to the sleepy days of…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.FT. LAUDERDALE: With the Army’s Humvee modernization plan a thing of the past, service leaders now plan to pour billions into sustaining what’s left of the venerable combat truck fleet. The current roster of combat-ready Humvees in the Army’s arsenal is “still sustainable” to carry out a wide range of missions, from air assault ops…
By Carlo Munoz
Enterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
WASHINGTON: Defense firms working on the Humvee upgrade effort are setting their sights on the Marines after Pentagon officials killed the Army-led program, industry sources say. Marine Corps officials who observed testing on some early industry designs for the Modernized Expanded Capability Vehicle — the official moniker of the Humvee recapitalization program — were more…
By Carlo MunozWASHINGTON: Lighter, faster and more lethal. That’s where he U.S. military is headed as a result of looming budget cuts slated to begin in fiscal 2013. And that’s where the Army wants to take their fleet of light combat vehicles, to help ease that budget blow. But to get there, service leaders plan to radically…
By Carlo MunozUPDATED WASHINGTON: The Army will cancel a multimillion dollar effort to upgrade its Humvee fleet and funnel those funds into the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, according to sources with knowledge of the program. Pentagon acquisition officials spearheaded Army’s decision to terminate the Modernized Expanded Capability Vehicle program — the official moniker of the Humvee recapitalization…
By Carlo MunozWHITE SANDS, NM: Parked out on the dusty plains of the New Mexican desert, the Army Humvee looked like every other combat truck stationed at the service’s sprawling test facility here — except for one big difference. This Humvee was completely unmanned. The vehicle was one of two Humvee being tested under the Joint Improvised…
By Carlo MunozWashington: The Army’s fleet of light tactical vehicles is about to get a lot smaller once a service-wide review wraps up. Army Training and Doctrine Command is fine-tuning a plan to cut a significant number of light armored vehicles and replace them with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, according to an Army official with knowledge…
By Carlo MunozWashington: There is growing concern within the Army that industry won’t be able to give the service what it wants for its improved Humvee fleet. “We have tested some of the [upgraded Humvees] already and they did not prove out,” said an Army official with knowledge of the program. “We don’t know if they can…
By Carlo MunozWashington: The Army is keeping an open mind on all options for its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, but rejected using an upgraded version of the Humvee. The Army is willing “to take a look” at all potential vehicle alternatives that can meet the JLTV’s cost and performance goals, Secretary John McHugh said during today’s Defense…
By Carlo Munoz
