By any measure, Oshkosh, Wisc., had a good week. Its namesake truck manufacturer and largest employer raked in nearly $700 million in contracts over the past seven days to build and recapitalize trucks for the Army.
Oshkosh Defense [OSK] on March 22 secured a $243 million contract years in the making to build the first lot of 657 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV). That win came a day after the company also won $430 million to recapitalize 1,212 trucks from the Army’s family of heavy tactical vehicles (FHTV) and build 345 trailers for them.
Photo: Oshkosh Corp.
The first FHTV contract, worth $197 million, is for upgrades to 700 of the Army’s Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) in six variants including the M984A4 self-recovery winch. The work is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2017.
The Oshkosh HEMTT is a workhorse of the Army’s logistics fleet, with a 13-ton payload and multiple variants for a wide range of operations. Oshkosh’s latest configuration, the HEMTT A4, introduces significant improvements in power, maintenance and safety, and enables the vehicles to traverse even the most challenging environments easier and more efficiently.
The latest configurations of FHTV trucks also include air-conditioned and armor-ready cabs, electrical upgrades and anti-lock braking to help keep soldiers safe.
Two other deals – worth a total $236 million — are for zero-timing 291 the Army’s fleet of Palletized Load Systems (PLS) and 345 trailers to make the equipment run like new. The upgrades will “provide the same performance and life cycle cost advantages as new production vehicles,” according to Oshkosh. All work performed under the contract will be completed in Oshkosh, Wis., with deliveries occurring from 2016 to 2017.
PLS A1 supports the Army’s distribution and resupply system by loading, unloading and delivering ammunition and other critical supplies needed in combat zones. The PLS carries a wide range of cargo and is specially designed to load and unload a variety of flatrack or ISO compatible containers on its own.
“We understand the critical need to improve reliability for in-theater operations without sacrificing performance on aging vehicle fleets,” John Bryant, senior vice president of defense programs at Oshkosh Defense, said in a statement. “That is why Oshkosh recapitalized vehicles are assembled on the same production line as new vehicles, and complete the same extensive performance tests and inspection procedures as new vehicles.”
To recapitalize the trucks, heavily used vehicles are returned to Oshkosh, stripped to the frame rails and completely rebuilt to like-new condition. The company has since 1995 recapitalized more than 12,000 of the U.S. Army’s heavy vehicles to equip soldiers with the latest technology and safety upgrades to achieve operational readiness.