All 66 Joint Light Tactical Vehicle prototypes were brought to the army in order that 14 months of testing can begin at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz. Full-scale testing is scheduled to start next week, in accordance with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle joint program office.
Each of the 3 vendors competing within the current research and development program delivered a complete of twenty-two vehicles and 6 trailers to both locations, said Col. John Cavedo, the joint project manager. The vendors are Oshkosh Defense, which builds the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle and others; Lockheed Martin, which produces the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System; and AM General, which builds the Humvee.
While this marks the start of full-scale testing, a certain quantity of testing within the current phase has already been done, he added, pointing to: greater than 400 ballistic and blast tests on armor testing samples; underbody blast testing; and greater than 1,000 miles in shakedown testing.
But next week Soldiers from the military Test and Evaluation Command and personnel from the Defense Department’s Office of Test and Evaluation will put the vehicles through realistic and rigorous field testing during a 14-month-long government performance testing period, Cavedo said.
Once which is completed in fiscal year 2015, the military and Marine Corps await awarding a production contract to a single vendor for almost 55,000 vehicles.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV, fills a huge gap in vehicle needs for the military and the Marine Corps, Cavedo said. Within the 20th century, the tactic was to construct heavily armored vehicles for front-line service and lighter vehicles equivalent to Humvees for rear-area duty.
But 9/11 changed all that, he said. Battle lines at the moment are blurred, and there’s need for a vehicle which may carry lots of gear and personnel, and capitalize on emerging networks. Any such vehicle also needs to be heavily armored and feature a number of speed, maneuverability and gear.
According to the Army’s Equipment Modernization Strategy, “the Army is moving forward with developing the JLTV to fill the aptitude gaps inside the light vehicle fleet by carefully balancing performance, payload and protection. The JLTV provides the identical level of protection because the Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected All-Terrain Vehicle, or M-ATV, better network integration than the [Humvee] and higher mobility and transportability than the M-ATV.”
The ticket needed to be right too, he added. In fiscal year 2011 dollars, each vehicle coming off the assembly line couldn’t exceed $250,000.
“We’ve insisted on that,” he said. “So this system is on schedule and on budget.”
Cavedo said he sees the testing progressing on schedule. He also thinks members of Congress see the critical need for the vehicle.
Long-term plans include the primary Army units receiving JLTVs by fiscal year 2018 and all 49,000 JLTVs dropped at the military by sometime within the 2030 decade, he said. The Marines will acquire a complete of five,500.
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