As warfare continues to change and evolve, the protection we provide our troops must too continue to change and evolve. The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) or Humvee as it has become known as, was an incredible vehicle and provided our troops everything they needed and more in the early 80’s. As warfare evolved, it has proven to be a very diverse platform that can be outfitted with a wide range of options to accommodate the changing battle field. That is, up until the urban combat of today and the last couple decades.

Photos courtesy of NDIA.org, marines.dodlive.mil and manufacturers.

One new vehicle program that is designed to address the current needs as well as future growth, is the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) family of vehicles. The JLTV program is a joint venture between the Army and the Marines that are “capable of performing multiple mission roles while providing protection, sustained, and networked mobility for personnel and payloads across the full spectrum of military operations,” according to the Joint Program Office overseeing the JLTV program.

“The JLTV provides the same level of protection as the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV), better network integration than the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehilces (HMMWV) and better mobility and transportability than the M-ATV,” as written in the Army Equipment Modernization Strategy (4 March 2013).

While these vehicles are entering the end of the EMD (Engineering & Manufacturing Development) phase and the contest for which military contractor will be awarded the LRIP (Low Rate Initial Production) contract is heating up.

Three manufacturers were award the EMB contract after the TD (Test and Development) contract was over. Those three were Lockheed Martin, Oshkosh, and AM General. Each of these companies are investing tens of millions into these programs because of the potential long term payoff. The planned order is for 50,000 Army units and 5,000 unites for the Marines over the next 20 years.

The three contenders (in alphabetical order):

AM General 

What many have called a Humvee on steroids, the AM General is counting on their 30 year history with the Humvee to take them into victory for the LRIP contract. They are positioning themselves as a production ready vehicle having built the 22 EMD vehicles on the Humvee production line.

Lockheed Martin 

The world’s largest military contractor, Lockheed Martin is making an aggressive bid to win the JLTV contract. Lockheed Martin is a major contender in this contract. Sources close to this program feel that Lockheed may very well deliver the better vehicle, but at what price. Their future forward thinking has led them to develop many new technologies that could prove to be extremely valuable in the future, but the question is can the government afford them today.

Oshkosh

Oshkosh has been extremely aggressive in their vehicle programs with the government. Currently, manufacturing a number of vehicles already, they are a proven vehicle manufacturer (like AM General). In addition, they traditionally bid very aggressively helping to win contracts for well below what analysts think they can build vehicles for. These capable vehicles combined with aggressive pricing could very well take them to the victory circle once again.

No matter which manufacturer wins the LRIP contract, these vehicles are sure to provide the protection to keep our troops safe for decades to come.