Oshkosh Defense’s [OSK] Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) production line is humming, though a preliminary injunction filed in federal claims court could halt manufacturing for a second time since the company was awarded a contract to build the Humvee replacement.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] on Dec. 17 requested a preliminary injunction from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to halt Oshkosh’s JLTV production during the litigation of its protest filed with that court the previous day. Oshkosh in August beat out Lockheed Martin and Humvee manufacturer AM General for the initial $6.7 billion contract to build JLTVs for the Army and Marine Corps.
Lockheed Martin quickly followed its loss with a protest to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Just before GAO was set to rule on the company’s protest, Lockheed Martin filed suit in federal court citing a mass of documentation that it claims the Army withheld until the 11th hour of the protest process.
Photo: Oshkosh Defense
While the GAO protest triggered a stop work, that order was rescinded when Lockheed Martin took its complaint to federal claims court. A federal judge will consider Lockheed Martin’s motion for preliminary injunction and then rule on whether Oshkosh will again have to halt work until the case is settled.
Oshkosh has been at work on its contractual obligation to build the first 17,000 JLTVs since the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) ordered it to resume work on Dec. 15, a company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
Both the complaint and the motion for injunction filed with the federal claims court are under seal. A redacted version of the complaint should be available to the public when both parties have agreed upon a version suitable for release. The federal government is the named defendant in the suit.
Lockheed Martin in a statement announcing its decision to file suit in federal court said a trove of documents detailing aspects of the source selection process came to light only just before the GAO protest was to be decided. Lockheed Martin believes the documents would have been a determining factor in the outcome of its protest and could have swayed the process in its favor.
Oshkosh has joined the suit as a defendant-intervenor and retained attorney Scott Arnold, a government contract specialist and partner with Washington-based firm Dickstein Shapiro, according to court records. Lockheed Martin has retained Marcia Madsen, a partner with Mayer Brown LLP. Both attorneys and their firms have been granted access to the sealed information, according to court documents. Three notices were filed Dec. 22, but they also are under wraps.
The government and Oshkosh have until Jan. 6 to respond to Lockheed Martin’s complaint, according to an official schedule that the court established for the case. Lockheed Martin then will have until Jan. 15 to reply, according to the timeline. A hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m., Jan. 20 in the National Courts Building.