U.S. Delays Humvee Replacement




U.S. Delays Humvee Replacement MRAP Pushes JLTV Arrival Two Years to 2012 September 3, 2007 Defense News by Kris Osborn The Pentagon may be pushing production of its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program back to 2012, but industry is moving ahead quickly. At least seven industry teams are working on prototypes, technologies and designs to anticipate the Pentagon's wish for a utility vehicle with combat abilities: AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE Systems, Cadillac Gage, Force Protection, Lockheed Martin, Oshkosh and Protected Vehicles. In August, the joint program's lead agency, the Army's TACOM Life Cycle Management office, unveiled a schedule that discarded the idea of beginning production in 2010. Military leaders who once envisioned the JLTV as an updated Humvee now want a tactical mobile vehicle with traditional combat capabilities, said Dennis Haag, the deputy manager for Assured Mobility Systems with the Army's TACOM branch. "How we are fighting the war has changed," Haag said. "In warfare, there is not a front and a rear anymore. You can have a bad guy pop up anywhere." But issues other than changing requirements are slowing the JLTV program, Army officials said. A U.S. Army TRADOC official said the rush to buy thousands of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles is occupying many of the Pentagon's acquisition professionals - a group that has been whittled away in the past decade. "Everyone's programs have been delayed," Haag said. "There is a war going on. MRAP is just another program that is competing for resources. You have a tactical wheeled fleet in Iraq of a couple hundred thousand vehicles - just caring for that alone is enough. The acquisition force has less people than there were a couple years ago. Everyone is short on bodies." The request for production, once slated for June but now expected by early 2008, will detail requirements and performance criteria. TACOM's new schedule calls for awarding system design and development contracts in the second half of 2008, picking a winner in 2010 and beginning production in early 2011. Initial operating capability for the JLTV is slated for the end of 2012, with full-rate production to follow in 2013. The services will buy 40,000 JLTVs in the first several years of production, and ultimately could purchase up to 160,000 at costs ranging from $180,000 to $450,000 per vehicle depending on capability, according to documents from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The ONR has been working on simulation models with AM General, BAE Systems, Cadillac Gage, General Dynamics Land Systems and Oshkosh since 2005. The purpose of the ONR research has been to explore ways to develop technologies being considered for the JLTV, such as hybrid-electric propulsion, exportable power, lightweight armor composites and mock-up vehicle designs. The ONR research has also been examining vehicle suspension systems, electronic configurations including communications gear, and survivability features such as remote weapons stations and improvised explosive device protections. Through a separate effort, Lockheed Martin has built a 3,500-pound JLTV prototype. "We have taken a system-of-systems approach to the design, with a shaped hull and integrated C4I," said Kathryn Hasse, Lockheed's director of tactical wheeled vehicles. "We are approaching survivability to identify and diffuse threats through net-centricity and collision avoidance systems." North Charleston, S.C.-based Protected Vehicles is offering the 7-ton Protector, a lightweight tactical combat vehicle sheathed in composite armor. "The Protector offers a wide array of scalable threat protection while maintaining the physical characteristics of a light tactical vehicle," said Drew Felty, Protected Vehicles program manager. Force Protection has built the 7-ton Cheetah vehicle, a lightweight, more mobile MRAP with a V-shaped hull. In January, Humvee maker AM General and General Dynamics formed the General Tactical Vehicles joint venture to compete for the JLTV work. Their engineers are collaborating on design concepts that include lightweight armor composites, exportable power and variable suspension. Leaders from the companies said engineers from both teams responded enthusiastically to initial meetings. AM General Chief Executive James Armour said the JLTV would be an entirely new beast. "No one has yet built a truck like JLTV," Armour said. "A lot of companies claim they have them. To our knowledge, no one has ever built this truck, a combination of a combat and tactical vehicle." David Heebner, president of GDLS, said the Army is refining its requirements. "Basically, what has happened is that in the lessons that we've learned in Afghanistan and Iraq, the old concept of the tactical vehicle requirement has been modified," he said. "It is approaching now what is generally referred to as a combat tactical vehicle." "Now the Humvee has very aggressive, complex requirement documents," Armour said. "The military leadership has said that the JLTV has to represent a quantum improvement over the current Humvees. That is a real challenge for industry. That has a lot to do with why we combined the skills of the two companies." At least five JLTV variants are planned: the Combat Tactical Vehicle, the Utility Vehicle, the Command and Control On-the-Move Vehicle, the Long Range Surveillance Vehicle, and the heavier, 23,000-pound Ground Maneuver Vehicle. The payload requirements have gone up for most of the Army variants, including the utility vehicle, up 200 pounds to 5,500; the command vehicle, up 880 pounds to 5,100; and the ground maneuver vehicle, up 400 pounds to 6,700. Other new requirements include: �� Making 30 kilowatts of electricity. �� Towing a trailer with ammunition and supplies. �� Carrying more ammo. The last two requirements are also part of the effort to increase fuel efficiency to 90 ton-miles per gallon at maximum gross vehicle weight. The new requirements also emphasize survivability. The JLTV also will be required to be equipped with the A-kit armor and an option to add a B-kit that includes a gunner's protective shield. Both kits are options on today's Humvees. The A-kit consists of extra armor plates bolted onto the sides of the vehicle, while the B-kit is a heavier version designed to thwart stronger threats. The JLTV must be able to run on two flat tires and keep going after a small-arms attack. . E-mail: kosborn@defensenews.com.

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