From WWII onward, militaries around the world have evolved their basic ground vehicles from small trucks like the original two-man Jeep into something resembling a miniature tank. The USA’s next-generation Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), due for delivery (next year) will have a curb weight of 14,000lbs, providing the armour necessary to survive roadside bombs that maimed and killed so many American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The JLTV is being developed by the US Army and the USMC as a successor to the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) that has been in service since 1985. On 28 October 2008, awards were made for the JLTV Technology Development (TD) Phase to three industry teams: BAE Systems, the team of Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicle (GTV), and AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS).
Once testing was completed and technology requirements established, a full and open competition was expected to be conducted in the late summer of 2011 for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) Phase; which was awarded (three firm-fixed price JLTV EMD contracts totalling approximately $185 million) on 22 August 2012 to AM General; Lockheed Martin; and Oshkosh. Vendors were required to provide 22 JLTV prototypes for testing 12 months after contract award.
Unsuccessful bidders, Navistar Defense, BAE Systems, and General Tactical Vehicles (a team of GD and AM General), are permitted to continue developing JLTV candidate vehicles at their own risk and expense, if they notify the government within 30 days of the EMD contract award. Reports suggest some bidders might consider continuing development of JLTV candidates for submission for production source selection.
The DOD’s May 2013 JLTV Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) has established the JLTV per-unit cost at about $400,000 per vehicle, which contrasts with service leaders’ claims that JLTV per-unit cost would be around $250,000 per vehicle. The SAR further notes that the JLTV’s total development and acquisition cost is expected to be almost $23 billion in 2012 dollars. With a planned JLTV procurement of 55,000 vehicles, the DOD estimates an average per unit cost of $399,000 per vehicle and a programme acquisition cost of $415,000 per vehicle. In terms of future year dollars, the unit cost is projected to reach $550,000 with a total development and acquisition cost in excess of $31 billion. The Army, in defence of its $250,000 per-unit cost estimate, noted the SAR’s cost estimates include associated vehicle hardware and other costs, such as add-on armour, fielding, new equipment training, spare parts, and managerial and technical personnel associated with the vehicle programme.
There will be two JLTV variants: A Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) that can transport four passengers and carry 3,500lbs, and a Combat Support Vehicle (CSV) that can transport two passengers and carry 5,100 pounds.
On 3 September 2013, the Army began JLTV testing, which occured over a 14-month period at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; Yuma, AZ; and Redstone Arsenal, AL. The Army then plans to select a single vendor by 2015, with the first Army brigade being equipped with JLTVs by 2018…looming sequestration cuts could delay that decision as well.
Equipped with a high-performance engine and transmission powertrain, a self-levelling suspension system, clustered super-computing power and other advanced components, the vehicle can be adapted to future changes in US military missions, enemy threats and new protection technologies.
AM General delivered the contractually required 22 prototypes to the government last year, and will not built any more JLTVs until the decision, as AM General does not foresee a need to do additional verification and validation of our processes.
The Lockheed Martin JLTV is systems-engineered to provide the crew protection of MRAPs, while returning crucial mobility, reliability and transportability to soldiers and marines. A patented Meritor PRO-TEC all-independent air-ride suspension brings agility and off-road mobility to this class of vehicles, while the dependable Cummins turbo diesel and Allison transmission combine abundant power with fuel efficiency. Rounding out the vehicle’s portfolio of capabilities are an exportable power-generation with substantial margin for future growth, and state-of-the art connectivity with other platforms.
The JLTV team includes tactical wheeled vehicles expertise at BAE Systems, which is an industry leader in advanced armour solutions and high volume assembly. The team also includes Allison Transmission, L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems, Robert Bosch, and Vehma International.
Lockheed Martin argues its high-tech skillset can actually help keep the cost down on JLTV. Before they started building, the company designed a new kind of computer programme to do complex trade-offs on how different designs would perform on different missions. Instead, Lockheed Martin came up with a six-dimensional framework that took inputs as varied as weight of armour, electrical power generation, and the terrain in different areas of Afghanistan, then computed outputs ranging from cross-country performance to gas consumption to the total cost to operate and maintain the vehicle over its service life. Lockheed is now using a similar approach for the mission equipment it will provide for the Future Vertical Lift aircraft, a massively more complex programme accounting for multiple variants and four competing designs.
Oshkosh is continuing to build additional JLTVs on the same production line that builds military FMTV and M-ATV trucks. Oshkosh Defense’s JLTV is the L-ATV, a light combat vehicle fully leveraging Oshkosh’s vast supplier network to produce a highly cost-effective vehicle. According to the company, the L-ATV combines field-proven technologies, an advanced crew protection system that provides MRAP-level protection and great levels of mobility in a light-duty profile. Equipped with the Oshkosh TAK-4i intelligent independent suspension system, this Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle can also be equipped with the PROPULSE hybrid diesel-electric drive train with exportable power for greater functionality, efficiency and fuel economy.
On 14 June 2013, Oshkosh Defense announced the delivery of 22 JLTV development vehicles to the Army and USMC. Two months later, on 14 August 2013, Lockheed Martin delivered its 22 JLTV development vehicles. On the same day, AM General delivered 22 of its BRV-O prototypes.
Reports suggest that the Marines remain committed to acquiring 5,500 JLTVs, particularly in light of the fact that procurement of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) will not begin until FY20, thereby providing a degree of funding flexibility. The Marines had originally intended to procure their JLTVs up front and are now supposedly working with the Army to determine how many JLTVs each service can buy per year.
The Marines have reportedly decided to cancel their HMMWV upgrade programme and will instead invest the funds in the JLTV programme. The Marines plan to reprogramme $53 million of about $57 million requested for the FY15 HMMWV Sustainment Modification Initiative into the JLTV programme. The remaining $4 million dollars in the HMMWV upgrade programme will be used to modify a selected number of HMMWVs not being replaced by JLTVs, and these HMMWVs are expected to remain in service until 2030.
On 25 June 2014, the Army released a draft RfP for the JLTV’s Full-Rate Production (FRP) phase. The Army and Marines plan to select a contract winner in July 2015 at a total projected programme cost of $31 billion by 2040. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) conducted an interim assessment of the JLTV programme and found the JLTV is likely to meet all eight key performance parameters (KPPs) — which are deemed “critical or essential” to JLTV operational capabilities — and are on track to meet two of four key system attributes (KSAs). The two KSAs that OSD has yet to assess are average unit manufacturing cost and ownership cost.
The President’s FY15 budget request for the JLTV is as follows:
US Army - $164.6 million (RDT&E $45.7 million) for 176 units, and USMC - $7.5 million (RDT&E $11.5 million) for seven.
While it is not expected that the Army’s JLTV requirements will vary greatly under the Army’s study of tactical wheeled vehicle requirements, Congress might opt to review revised JLTV requirements. In June 2013, the Army announced it would eliminate 12 BCTs and an unspecified number of headquarters and support units, and these cuts should be reflected in the Army’s soon-to-be-released study. It has also been reported that based on downsizing, the Army plans to reduce its overall tactical wheeled vehicle fleet by 60,000 vehicles. Since these announcements, the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review and FY15 President’s budget request suggest additional Army and Marine force structure could be cut, thereby likely further decreasing JLTV requirements. In this regard, Congress could review proposed Army and Marine force structure cuts to determine if overall service JLTV requirements have also decreased proportionally. If overall JLTV requirements do not change under reduced force structures, the services could instead opt to field JLTVs to other units that were not originally designated to receive JLTVs. These potential force structure cuts could have an appreciable impact on overall JLTV requirements and the overall programme price tag as well.
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| Patented by BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin’s major JLTV partner, the Occupant-Centric Protection System is proven extensively by live-fire testing. The structurally enhanced designs provide maximised ground clearance and effectively dissipate blast effects. (Photo: Lockheed Martin) |
The JLTV is being developed by the US Army and the USMC as a successor to the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) that has been in service since 1985. On 28 October 2008, awards were made for the JLTV Technology Development (TD) Phase to three industry teams: BAE Systems, the team of Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicle (GTV), and AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS).
Once testing was completed and technology requirements established, a full and open competition was expected to be conducted in the late summer of 2011 for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) Phase; which was awarded (three firm-fixed price JLTV EMD contracts totalling approximately $185 million) on 22 August 2012 to AM General; Lockheed Martin; and Oshkosh. Vendors were required to provide 22 JLTV prototypes for testing 12 months after contract award.
JLTV at a Glance: The JLTV is an US Army-led, multi-service initiative to develop a family of future light tactical vehicles to replace many of the HMMWVs used by the US armed services today. HMMWVs, which first entered service in 1985, were developed during the Cold War when IEDs and other anti-vehicle explosive devices were not a major factor in military planning. The HMMWV’s demonstrated vulnerability to IEDs and the difficulties and costs experienced in “up-armoring” HMMWVs already in the inventory have led to renewed emphasis on vehicle survivability. US DOD officials have emphasised that JLTVs are not intended to replace HMMWVs “one for one.”
The JLTV programme is a joint US Army/USMC effort to develop and produce both vehicles and associated trailers. Originally, there were three variants, but now there are two planned JLTV variants: a four-passenger Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) and a two-passenger Combat Support Vehicle (CSV). As planned, JLTVs would be more mechanically reliable, maintainable (with onboard diagnostics), all-terrain mobile, and equipped to link into current and future tactical data nets. Survivability and strategic and operational transportability by ship and aircraft are also key JLTV design requirements.
Unsuccessful bidders, Navistar Defense, BAE Systems, and General Tactical Vehicles (a team of GD and AM General), are permitted to continue developing JLTV candidate vehicles at their own risk and expense, if they notify the government within 30 days of the EMD contract award. Reports suggest some bidders might consider continuing development of JLTV candidates for submission for production source selection.
The DOD’s May 2013 JLTV Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) has established the JLTV per-unit cost at about $400,000 per vehicle, which contrasts with service leaders’ claims that JLTV per-unit cost would be around $250,000 per vehicle. The SAR further notes that the JLTV’s total development and acquisition cost is expected to be almost $23 billion in 2012 dollars. With a planned JLTV procurement of 55,000 vehicles, the DOD estimates an average per unit cost of $399,000 per vehicle and a programme acquisition cost of $415,000 per vehicle. In terms of future year dollars, the unit cost is projected to reach $550,000 with a total development and acquisition cost in excess of $31 billion. The Army, in defence of its $250,000 per-unit cost estimate, noted the SAR’s cost estimates include associated vehicle hardware and other costs, such as add-on armour, fielding, new equipment training, spare parts, and managerial and technical personnel associated with the vehicle programme.
There will be two JLTV variants: A Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) that can transport four passengers and carry 3,500lbs, and a Combat Support Vehicle (CSV) that can transport two passengers and carry 5,100 pounds.
On 3 September 2013, the Army began JLTV testing, which occured over a 14-month period at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; Yuma, AZ; and Redstone Arsenal, AL. The Army then plans to select a single vendor by 2015, with the first Army brigade being equipped with JLTVs by 2018…looming sequestration cuts could delay that decision as well.
JLTV Industry
AM General's JLTV prototype has recently successfully completed EMD off-road testing at an undisclosed location. Developed in two versions, the BRV-O is designed to meet or exceed the EMD phase evaluation criteria for protection, performance, payload, transportability, reliability and affordability. It includes a four-seat combat tactical vehicle to support three different mission package configurations, and a two-seat combat support vehicle to support a utility mission package configuration for different roles across a full spectrum of military operations.Equipped with a high-performance engine and transmission powertrain, a self-levelling suspension system, clustered super-computing power and other advanced components, the vehicle can be adapted to future changes in US military missions, enemy threats and new protection technologies.
AM General delivered the contractually required 22 prototypes to the government last year, and will not built any more JLTVs until the decision, as AM General does not foresee a need to do additional verification and validation of our processes.
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| AM General successfully completed all EMD phase milestones, including the design understanding review and manufacturing readiness assessment, prior to delivering 22 Blast Resistant Vehicles - Off road (BRV-O) to the US Government for testing in August 2013. (Photo: AM General) |
The Lockheed Martin JLTV is systems-engineered to provide the crew protection of MRAPs, while returning crucial mobility, reliability and transportability to soldiers and marines. A patented Meritor PRO-TEC all-independent air-ride suspension brings agility and off-road mobility to this class of vehicles, while the dependable Cummins turbo diesel and Allison transmission combine abundant power with fuel efficiency. Rounding out the vehicle’s portfolio of capabilities are an exportable power-generation with substantial margin for future growth, and state-of-the art connectivity with other platforms.
The JLTV team includes tactical wheeled vehicles expertise at BAE Systems, which is an industry leader in advanced armour solutions and high volume assembly. The team also includes Allison Transmission, L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems, Robert Bosch, and Vehma International.
Lockheed Martin argues its high-tech skillset can actually help keep the cost down on JLTV. Before they started building, the company designed a new kind of computer programme to do complex trade-offs on how different designs would perform on different missions. Instead, Lockheed Martin came up with a six-dimensional framework that took inputs as varied as weight of armour, electrical power generation, and the terrain in different areas of Afghanistan, then computed outputs ranging from cross-country performance to gas consumption to the total cost to operate and maintain the vehicle over its service life. Lockheed is now using a similar approach for the mission equipment it will provide for the Future Vertical Lift aircraft, a massively more complex programme accounting for multiple variants and four competing designs.
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| The primary goal of JLTV is to provide a Family of Vehicles (FOV), with companion trailers, that are capable of performing multiple mission roles designed to provide protected, sustained and networked mobility for personnel and payloads across the full range of military operations. (Photo: Lockheed Martin) |
Oshkosh is continuing to build additional JLTVs on the same production line that builds military FMTV and M-ATV trucks. Oshkosh Defense’s JLTV is the L-ATV, a light combat vehicle fully leveraging Oshkosh’s vast supplier network to produce a highly cost-effective vehicle. According to the company, the L-ATV combines field-proven technologies, an advanced crew protection system that provides MRAP-level protection and great levels of mobility in a light-duty profile. Equipped with the Oshkosh TAK-4i intelligent independent suspension system, this Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle can also be equipped with the PROPULSE hybrid diesel-electric drive train with exportable power for greater functionality, efficiency and fuel economy.
On 14 June 2013, Oshkosh Defense announced the delivery of 22 JLTV development vehicles to the Army and USMC. Two months later, on 14 August 2013, Lockheed Martin delivered its 22 JLTV development vehicles. On the same day, AM General delivered 22 of its BRV-O prototypes.
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| Oshkosh’s contender for the JLTV programme: The L-ATV. (Photo: Oshkosh) |
JLTV – A Numbers Game
No FMS are currently planned for JLTV, despite previous programme participation from Australia and interest from Canada, the UK, and Israel. This suggests there is no longer any foreign participation in the JLTV programme. It might be interesting to know if and why these countries are no longer interested, as foreign participation in these types of programmes not only increases interoperability but can also benefit from a cost perspective. |
| Lockheed Martin's JLTV contender at AUSA 2013. (Photo: DPM) |
Reports suggest that the Marines remain committed to acquiring 5,500 JLTVs, particularly in light of the fact that procurement of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) will not begin until FY20, thereby providing a degree of funding flexibility. The Marines had originally intended to procure their JLTVs up front and are now supposedly working with the Army to determine how many JLTVs each service can buy per year.
The Marines have reportedly decided to cancel their HMMWV upgrade programme and will instead invest the funds in the JLTV programme. The Marines plan to reprogramme $53 million of about $57 million requested for the FY15 HMMWV Sustainment Modification Initiative into the JLTV programme. The remaining $4 million dollars in the HMMWV upgrade programme will be used to modify a selected number of HMMWVs not being replaced by JLTVs, and these HMMWVs are expected to remain in service until 2030.
On 25 June 2014, the Army released a draft RfP for the JLTV’s Full-Rate Production (FRP) phase. The Army and Marines plan to select a contract winner in July 2015 at a total projected programme cost of $31 billion by 2040. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) conducted an interim assessment of the JLTV programme and found the JLTV is likely to meet all eight key performance parameters (KPPs) — which are deemed “critical or essential” to JLTV operational capabilities — and are on track to meet two of four key system attributes (KSAs). The two KSAs that OSD has yet to assess are average unit manufacturing cost and ownership cost.
The President’s FY15 budget request for the JLTV is as follows:
US Army - $164.6 million (RDT&E $45.7 million) for 176 units, and USMC - $7.5 million (RDT&E $11.5 million) for seven.
While it is not expected that the Army’s JLTV requirements will vary greatly under the Army’s study of tactical wheeled vehicle requirements, Congress might opt to review revised JLTV requirements. In June 2013, the Army announced it would eliminate 12 BCTs and an unspecified number of headquarters and support units, and these cuts should be reflected in the Army’s soon-to-be-released study. It has also been reported that based on downsizing, the Army plans to reduce its overall tactical wheeled vehicle fleet by 60,000 vehicles. Since these announcements, the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review and FY15 President’s budget request suggest additional Army and Marine force structure could be cut, thereby likely further decreasing JLTV requirements. In this regard, Congress could review proposed Army and Marine force structure cuts to determine if overall service JLTV requirements have also decreased proportionally. If overall JLTV requirements do not change under reduced force structures, the services could instead opt to field JLTVs to other units that were not originally designated to receive JLTVs. These potential force structure cuts could have an appreciable impact on overall JLTV requirements and the overall programme price tag as well.
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| JLTV blast testing. |
For more information, please see MILITARY TECHNOLOGY 10/14, available at AUSA 2014.