Parts are arriving and work has begun on the Lockheed Martin [LMT] offering for the Army-Marine Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), and a model is on display at the Modern Day Marine Exhibition.
“The great accomplishment that the Army and Marine Corps were able to achieve…last year was to reconcile the differences in their requirements, and come together on a common set of requirements that formed the basis for the solicitation,” Kathryn Hasse, director, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Program for Lockheed Martin, told Defense Daily.
Since late August, Lockheed Martin has been working under a $66.3 million JLTV engineering and manufacturing development contract (Defense Daily, Aug. 23, 24). It is competing against AM General and Oshkosh Corp. (OSK).
The JLTV is basically the same model for both the Army and Marines, then there are mission kits–think bolt on, Hasse said, for each force. Depending on the mission, the vehicle would be configured differently.
The base requirements have historically been of most importance, she said. The Marines are concerned about vehicle weight, something important to the Corps’ ability to be an expeditionary force.
All the JLTV vehicles have to achieve 14,000 pounds, she said. As a gauge, consider that the first M-ATV had to weight 24,000 to 25,000 pounds.
The JLTV also has a requirement to achieve the same level of blast protection as the smallest Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle–the M-ATV.
Lockheed Martin’s JLTV offering features an innovative hull design, Hasse said, not the traditional V-hull. That speaks to the second part of the transportability issue, he added. The JLTV must be able to be put on Prepositioned Ships, which means the vehicle has to achieve a 76-inch ride height. This leads to design work for the vehicle’s blast protection, where there is a “strong relationship between how far off the ground you are as well as the materials you are using,” she said.
Lockheed Martin has taken a systems approach with an independent airbag suspension system, which covers a variable ride height, with about 16 inches of travel in it from the highest point of air on a “tip-toe” setting to lowest setting, she said. This ability gives the vehicle enough clearance to go over ramps to a ship, and to achieve the 76- inch height requirement and also allows a standoff distance from the point of blast.
The work is moving quickly. “We have to deliver our first 20 vehicles in less than 12 months,” Hasse said. “We are very focused on ensuring we can deliver our vehicles on schedule, along with quite a number of other contract deliverables.”
The first two deliverables were made on schedule, providing the government with some models and the results of some analysis.
As Modern Day Marine takes place, Lockheed Martin takes part in a Start of Work meeting, to do things such as to finalize program data, go through a systems requirements review examining every single technical requirement, and discussing the company’s approach.
Hasse said Lockheed Martin and teammate BAE Systems believe they have a proven vehicle for the Army and Marines, with a successful design in the Technology Development phase. A significant amount of work has been done to optimize that design, and at the same time the team is achieving affordability targets. “We’re in position, proven, and ready to perform,” she said.