Oshkosh Corp. has just beaten out Lockheed Martin and AM General to built the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle — and they’re not happy.
Oshkosh Corp. has just scored an absolutely massive $30 billion contract to completely replace the U.S. Army’s famous Humvee fleet, and a major fight could be brewing because of it.
Oshkosh will build the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle under the terms of the contract, which would be one of the biggest in Army history — and because of its size, the losers, which include industry giants like Lockheed Martin and Humvee builder AM General, may not be willing to go quietly into the night, and this could result in some headaches for the Army, according to a Defense News report.
Although the Army’s JLTV program expressed confidence that the competition was handled fairly and that they didn’t expect a protest to be filed, winner Oshkosh said because of the size and scope of the program they wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. If it does, it could be a major setback for a program just getting off the ground, as there would be at least 100 days where the program is suspended as investigation into the protest is performed.
The JLTV program would involve construction of 49,1000 vehicles for the Army, and 5,500 for the Marines.
Will Lockheed or AM General actually file a protest? It’s not clear yet, and they haven’t announced any plans to do so, but they have stated they are considering it.
In the meantime, it’s still not certain what will become of the aging Humvee, which was a critical piece of equipment during the ground wars in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last decade. The Army has about 120,000 Humvees in its inventory, and the Marines have about 13,000. Some will be replaced, but some may be used later on and refurbished.
SHARING