By Ann Roosevelt
BAE Systems yesterday said it has added Northrop Grumman [NOC] to its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) team.
The team currently consists of BAE, Navistar Defense and Meritor Defense (formerly ArvinMeritor).
JLTV, a multi-service initiative for a family of future light tactical vehicles, is in the Technology Demonstration Phase.
A request for proposals for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase is expected this summer, according to Army briefings at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Conference in early February. Two contracts are expected to be awarded in the second quarter of fiscal year 2012 for a 48-month effort. The two EMD contractors would compete for the single award for the so-far notional production phase.
The BAE-led team is competing against a Lockheed Martin [LMT]-led entry and the General Tactical Vehicles (GTV) bid including General Dynamics [GD] and AM General.
All three teams have delivered technology demonstrators for government testing.
BAE said Northrop Grumman will serve as the command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) lead, responsible for the integration of command and control hardware and software, computers and communications equipment, sensors and sensor suites for intelligence gathering and force protection.
Applying Northrop Grumman and BAE’s expertise, the team will develop a net-ready, open architecture system, allowing the warfighter to configure the JLTV platform rapidly and inexpensively for current and future mission needs.
“Our decision to team with one of the world’s leaders in C4ISR recognizes the growing importance of situational awareness, information sharing, and command and control on the battlefield, both for vehicles and dismounted soldiers,” said Ann Hoholick, vice president and general manager of amphibious and new programs at BAE. “Northrop Grumman will help us ensure that we provide the kind of scalable solutions the military needs, at an affordable price.”
Joe Taylor, Northrop Grumman Information Systems’ vice president for Ground Combat Systems, said: “We are proud to join the BAE Systems JLTV team and bring our expertise in advanced tactical, networked C4ISR to make a strong team even stronger. With the combined capability of this team, we’ll deliver proven, low-risk solutions and the vehicle for soldiers and Marines with the best payload, protection and performance that industry can offer.”
The BAE team is currently participating in the Technology Development phase of the JLTV program and plans to compete for the next phase of the program, EMD.
The two companies already have teamed in a similar configuration in pursuit of the Army’s planned Ground Combat Vehicle program (Defense Daily, March 2, 2010).
The Army briefing at that February NDIA conference found that weight continued to be a leading challenge, with the technology demonstration vehicles “several hundred to 1,000” pounds overweight, a briefing slide said. This has had an effect on mobility, payload capacity and need to be resolved. One key performance parameter is force protection, and those requirements are “unlikely” to be decreased over time and would be more likely to increase, documents said.
JLTV program officials were clear that the program is “significantly” different than the one that started the technology demonstration phase and that information gained has refined the effort to come in EMD.
The Marines and Navy have yet to make specific decisions, but the Marines are considering a procurement quantity of 5,500 vehicles, combat tactical vehicles and support vehicles, plus trailers, the Navy is mulling some 400-500 combat vehicles, up to 200 support vehicles, and trailers.
There is considerable international interest, and test vehicles and supporting equipment have been delivered for test to Australia (Defense Daily, July 23, 2010). Under the U.S. and Australia’s Land Force Capability Modernization Project Arrangement (PA) that went into effect in late January 2009, tactical vehicle interoperability and integration between the two countries is enabled (Defense Daily, Feb. 27, 2009).