The U.S. Army has delayed announcing the winners of three 27-month technology development Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) contracts by at least several days, stating it will release the winning teams the week of Oct. 27, Army officials said.
However, the Army has decided upon the three winners, a senior Army official confirmed.
The contracts, awaiting signature on Defense Secretary Robert Gates' desk, will give three JLTV makers the opportunity to develop and test their vehicle for production.
The technology phase will be followed by a system design-and-development award resulting in production contract awards by 2013. If the technologies prove ready, the production timeline could be accelerated, said Maj. Gen. Scott West, commander of U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, speaking Oct. 7 at the Association of the United States Army annual convention in Washington.
"What we are looking for is a technical readiness level for integration," West said. "So if they come in and the technology proves to be TRL [technology readiness level] six or higher and it meets the payload, protection and performance requirements, the program could accelerate."
West said the Army's vehicle plans will include a yet-to-be determined mixture of rebuilt and next-generation Humvees, such as the ECV-2, and JLTVs.
West said the nature of attacks in Iraq, along with the limitations of the Humvee, have underscored the need for the JLTV.
"I was in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 as the chief of logistics for CJTF-7," or coalition joint task force-7, he said. "There were almost zero up-armored Humvees [in the Army] at that time. The notion of add-on armor was just a concept. We've got over 18,000 up-armored Humvees there now, and they've added all kinds of armor kits.
"As good as the up-armored Humvee was, it is time for a V-hull approach," West said.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
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