New Army trucks

Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems has been awarded a $6,096,214 firm-fixed price contract for 38 medium tactical vehicle 5-ton cargo trucks.

Work will be performed in Sealy, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 15, 2008.

More Stewart and Stevenson news here.

Source: DoD

Photo: S & S AAR

BAE gets more MRAP orders, too

Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle, Division of Armor Holdings, Sealy, Texas, is being awarded $481,835,008 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order under a previously awarded contract for the purchase of 1,024 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Category (CAT) II vehicles with CAT I seating configuration.

Note: Stewart and Stevenson were founded in 1902 in Houston, TX. They began as a carriage repair shop. In 2006 they were purchased by Amor Holdings. In 2007 BAE purchased Armor holdings.

BAE Systems Land & Armaments, LP. Ground Systems Division, York, Pa., is being awarded $234,043,500 for firm-fixed-priced delivery under a previously awarded contract for the purchase of 3 Special Operations Command variants, 51 Ambulance variants, and 393 Category II variants of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

Sources: DoD and various Photo: BAE

JLTV update

An RFP has been issued for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).

"JLTV will replace all the HMMWVs for the Marine Corps and will be the centerpiece of the light tactical wheeled vehicle fleet as part of the tactical mobility triad to maintain our expeditionary capability," Lt. Col. Ben Garza, JLTV program manager for the Marine Corps at Quantico, Va., said.

Like the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle will stress a commonality of capabilities and components. There are expected to be 10 sub-configurations in three different payload categories.

Sources: Various

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Update

For over twenty years the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, HMMWV or "humvee", has been quite the success story. Thousands have been produced for the U.S. Armed Forces. More than a dozen variants were created from an ambulance to a TOW missile carrier. It even spawned the civilian Hummer.

The days of the HMMWV are, however, numbered. Like it's predecessor the Jeep, the HMMWV was designed for use behind the front lines. Times and the battlefront have changed. These vehicles were finding themselves confronted by heavy small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), IEDs and other threats they were never designed to face

In response the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program was launched. JLTV program is looking to procure an acceptable next-generation vehicle probably about half the size and price of an MRAP. Speed and mobility will be demanded in five variants: Reconnaissance; Utility; Combat/Tactical and C2. This means billions of dollars and this story will really begin to heat up with an expected RFP in February.

The most recent news on this front is an announced new partnership. Northrop Grumman has joined with Oshkosh Trucks to compete with Boeing/Textron, General Dynamics/Force Protection and Lockheed Martin/Armor Holdings (now part of BAE). Stay tuned.

Sources: Various