US military vehicle builder Oshkosh Defense has filed a formal protest against the US Army’s decision to award a follow-on, $8 billion contract for the delivery of the next batch of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) to AM General.
The somewhat unexpected US Army decision to award the recompeted JLTV contract to AM General instead the incumbent vehicle builder Oshkosh Defense was announced in February this year.
Oshkosh Defense has been delivering the vehicles to the US Army under an initial contract for 17,000 JLTVs from 2015.
The company filed the formal bid protest with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the award decision on March 6.
“After participating in the government’s post-award debriefing process, we have significant concerns regarding the evaluation of the proposals under the solicitation that support an independent review,” said Tim Bleck, senior vice president Oshkosh Corporation and president Oshkosh Defense.
“We believe the government’s evaluation did not properly review the financial, technical, and manufacturing capabilities offered to select the best value and lowest risk solution to deliver the JLTV.”
Commenting on the contract award for an estimated 20,000 JLTVs, along with approximately 10,000 trailers, AM General said it would produce the vehicles in a dedicated military production facility at their 96-acre Mishawaka Manufacturing Campus (MMC) in Indiana. MMC features an onsite test track where JLTVs will undergo testing in a dynamic operating environment.
As a successor for the Humvee in the US military, the JLTV is air-transportable (CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters; C-130, C-5, C-17 and A400 Cargo fixed-wing aircraft) and can be delivered in a multitude of versions ranging from general purpose to heavy guns carrier.
The vehicles come with integrated C4ISR capabilities and have a payload of 2,313 kg in the two-door configuration, and 1,587 kg in four-door configuration.
The JLTV has also secured orders from seven NATO and allied forces including, Belgium, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Brazil, and Romania.
