Lockheed Martin JLTV not a direct descendent of MRAP

A Lockheed Martin official was recently quoted in The Ithaca Journal regarding the company's approach to force protection in the next generation Humvee.

Lockheed said its vehicle offering relies more on situational awareness to avoid and communicate threats versus additional armor for survival.

“Today's brute force approach to survivability is based on adding more armor,” said Louis DeSantis, vice president and general manager of Ground Vehicle Systems at Lockheed in Owego. “Our holistic approach to JLTV survivability sees armor as a last resort.”

Lockheed said its vehicle also features excellent mobility, weapons and countermeasures to neutralize threats, and a new armor composition combined with a hull and structural design for protection if an attack cannot be avoided. The Lockheed-led JLTV team includes BAE Systems Mobility & Protection Systems, Alcoa Defense and JWF — Defense Systems

The quotation about "armor as a last resort" stands out. And it makes sense as a strategy.

For all the protection it offers, the sheer weight of MRAP armor severely limits the tactical applications for MRAPs, as illustrated by the cutback on MRAP orders by the Marines along with numerous stories of MRAPs straining bridges and negotiating the urban environment with difficulty. Effective avoidance of mines and ambush is the superior strategy--if it works. Most likely the countermeasures will add a new dimension to the technological aspect of the contest with terrorists. Enemies will come up with ways to beat current countermeasures, and new countermeasures will be developed to meet the threat.

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