Oshkosh Defense won the contract to produce the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the replacement for the Humvee.
The U.S. government selected Oshkosh Defense to produce the replacement for Humvee, perhaps the second-most identifiable U.S. military vehicle behind the Willys-based Jeep.
The $6.7 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV, program has been a hotly contested contract and Oshkosh beat out AM General, the previous build of the Humvee, and Lockheed Martin, which is best-known as an aircraft manufacturer.
The Humvee has been around for decades, replacing the Jeep as the primary mover of soldiers on bases and battlefields. More than 280,000 Humvees have been built during the years and the vehicles have been modified to provide a variety of uses for the military.
However, the recent events have shown that U.S. soldiers need a new vehicle designed to handle varied battle theaters ranging from mountains to urban areas. The JLTV program has been in development for more than a decade with more than 22 different models created for U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) review since 2005.
“Following a rigorous, disciplined JLTV competition, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are giving our nation’s Warfighers the most capable light vehicle — the Oshkosh JLTV,” said Charles Szews, CEO, Oshkosh Corp.
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The new vehicle includes improved blast protection against improvised explosive devices as well as outstanding off-road capability and it’s easily loaded into the cargo hold of a C-130: the U.S. military’s primary aircraft for moving people and vehicles around the world.
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While the win sounds good, and Oshkosh will build 17,000 vehicles as part of the contract, the deal is only for low-rate initial production and full-rate production. Ultimately, the contract could grow to $30 billion with more than 55,000 of the vehicles produced.
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“Because of the JLTV program, our Soldiers and Marines are getting a level technical performance that no other vehicle can match,” said John Arias, president of Oshkosh Defense and a retired Army Major General.
What I care about is that these vehicles are properly designed and built to protect our military men and women as best possible.
I hope they don’t screw Oshkosh like they screwed over Bantaan, the original creater of the General Purpose vehicle, better known as Geep / Jeep.
Its always interesting how the mission changes and so does the tech. Originally the humvee was built to replace the original jeep because new recruits were killing themselves and fellow personal simply by rolling the jeep on paved roads with no warning to the driver , hince the increased length and width of the humvee and the use of aluiminum for the body lower center of gravity. Last reports of the cost of a humvee was about 100,000.00$ for 1. Ive heard these JLTV will be north of 500,000.00$
But it will not only save lives ,but also injuries. The military and oshkosh are also building hydrid versions not only for increased fuel mileage, but auxcillary power sources and stealth and urban operations. Autonomous operation operation is built in.