Cheetah "excellent start" toward Force Protection JLTV

I've posted before about the role of the Force Protection Cheetah in the JLTV program. Force Protection reportedly pitched the vehicle for MRAP II, apparently in anticipation of the need for a faster and lighter version of a mine-protected vehicle.

The armed services played wait-and-see while accelerating the JLTV program intended to replace the Humvee.

And I've taken a few stabs at guessing to what degree the Cheetah is supposed to fit the JLTV requirements. A recent story in the Charleston City Paper provides a quotation from a company official that sheds some light on the issue.

The big money is rightly moving past the MRAP industry to the next big thing. The military has commissioned specs for streamlined light, well-protected vehicles known as JLTVs, that are expected to be the next generation Humvees. But those won't be ready until 2014 or 2015, Moody said, potentially opening a window for a transition vehicle Force Protection calls the Cheetah — a faster, lighter Cougar.

"The development of the Cheetah gives us an excellent start on developing a vehicle for the JLTV," he said. "There is no doubt that this program is going to see an intense level of competition. The potential size of the JLTV program is in the tens of billions of dollars."

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