Video: General Tactical Vehicles JLTV

General Tactical Vehicles was the name given to the partnership that included AM General, maker of the Humvee, and General Dynamics.

JLTV testing underway

Test vehicles from BAE/Navistar, Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicles have arrived at the Aberdeen testing grounds.

Military.com has images of vehicles representing each of the competing partnerships.

Northrop Grumman/Oshkosh appeals JLTV decision

Not unexpectedly, the Northrop Grumman/Oshkosh JLTV partnership has appealed the Army's decision narrowing to three the JLTV bidding field.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Nov. 7, 2008 - Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) today filed a formal protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a review of the evaluation conducted by the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Source Selection Authority (SSA) to identify development teams for the technical demonstration (TD) phase of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program.

After careful examination of the data presented at the Nov. 5 debriefing, it is apparent that inconsistencies in the bid and evaluation process unfairly placed the Northrop Grumman team at a competitive disadvantage. Northrop Grumman requests that the GAO examine the process, which it believes is marred by unstated requirement changes and arbitrary maturity ratings.

(Northrop Grumman Corporation press release)

Though press releases are among the things least likely to draw a copyright complaint, I'll leave it to the reader to click the link in order to read additional details regarding the protest. If the argument is based on fact then it carries some persuasion.

I was pleased to locate additional representation of the Northrop Grumman/Oshkosh JLTV design.

clipped from www.ms.northropgrumman.com

If this protest succeeds, I wonder which winning bidder turns into a loser? BAE/Navistar was a bit of a dark horse candidate, albeit with good success in winning MRAP bids. Lockheed Martin/Armor Holdings (BAE) was a favorite, with congressional pork addict John Murtha in its corner. General Tactical Vehicles (AM General/General Dynamics) was an uber-favorite but with evidently poor sight lines for the prototype vehicle's driver.

One portion of the Northrop Grumman/Oshkosh appeal refers to a lack of clarity regarding the importance placed on demonstrator vehicles/prototypes. What does that mean? Lockheed Martin gets the inside track for producing the first prototype? AM General gets a pass for tiny side windows since it's just a prototype? The fate of three small defense contracts and one great big defense contract may hinge in large part on the answer.

Three for JLTV; early call off by one

Early information regarding the three partnerships chosen for the JLTV development phase was apparently off by one, with the Northrop Grumman/Oshkosh entry failing to make the cut.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 29, 2008) -- The Army announced today the awarding of three contracts for technology development on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

Together, the three contracts are worth a combined total of approximately $166 million. They have been awarded to: BAE Systems Land & Armament Systems – Ground Systems Division, Santa Clara, Calif.; General Tactical Vehicles (A Joint Venture of General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. and AM General, LLC), Sterling Heights, Mich.; and Lockheed Martin Systems Integration – Owego; Owego, N.Y.
(Army.mil)

BAE has two fingers in the pie, since the Lockheed Martin entry includes a partnership with BAE subsidiary Armor Holdings, Inc.

General Tactical Vehicles was an odds on favorite.

The first winner listed, BAE Systems, is the partnership between BAE and Navistar International. I like it that this partnership made the cut because it makes me look almost like I know what I'm talking about.

clipped from picasaweb.google.com

BAE/Navistar

clipped from subloviate.blogspot.com

General Tactical Vehicles.

clipped from www.aviationweek.com

Lockheed Martin/Armor Holdings (BAE)
This is the most becoming of all of the images of the Lockheed Martin vehicles I've seen thus far (photo posted by Bettina Chavanne). This "Category A General Purpose Mobility Vehicle" doesn't look half bad.

DefenseNews with JLTV winners

Just hours ago, Kris Osborn of DefenseNews.com named the winners of the first round of the JLTV competition--at least according to his unnamed sources.

The story ends up naming the odds-on favorites in the competition, minus one pairing that I would have squeezed in as a favorite based on its success with the MRAP programs: Navistar/BAE Systems.

That leaves the other heavyweights AM General/General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman/Oshkosh and Lockheed Martin/BAE Systems (Armor Holdings).

It won't be long before we know how reliably Osborn's sources spoke.

The AM General/General Dynamics JLTV

clipped from www.southbendtribune.com Photo provided This is the prototype developed by AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems of their joint lightweight tactical vehicle, which was unveiled Tuesday in Quantico, Va. The companies are among a group competing for a military contract with production slated to start in 2013.

Looks pretty sweet, as Napoleon Dynamite perhaps would say.

"It's the first time anyone has seen our vehicle," said Craig Mac Nab, AM General spokesman, in a phone interview from the conference. "It's meant to be a next generation from the Humvee.

"It has a greater payload and greater degree of protection and a higher level of performance."