JLTV downselect winners.

Thanks for the link Jonathan!  Wow.  Read the entire article but BAE lost AGAIN!  I don't know whats going on.  They seem to have solid designs yet can't catch a break in these selections.

via DefenseNews.

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps have selected three vehicles for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, with the announcement coming Wednesday evening.

The awards were somewhat surprising, since two of the three went to companies that submitted their designs in March, as opposed to bidders who had been working on the program since its inception in 2005.

The awards went to AM General, ($64.5 million); Lockheed Martin ($66.3 million); and Oshkosh Corporation, ($56.4 million). AM General and Oshkosh are the new bidders.

In a notice posted to a government contracting website, the Army said that the firm-fixed price contracts cover the 27-month EMD effort, and that “approximately $99.5Mwas obligated for the three contractors by this action, with initial funding of approximately $28M to $36M for each contractor. The balance of the funding, up to full base contract amount, will be provided in FY 13 and FY 14.”

The Army says that it plans to purchase 50,000 vehicles, while the Marine Corps is looking to buy 5,000.

The three industry teams who won technology development contracts in October 2008 included BAE Systems and Navistar; General Tactical Vehicles (General Dynamics and AM General); and Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems.

But on March 28, Navistar left the BAE-led team to offer the Saratoga Light Tactical Vehicle, and AM General and Oshkosh both announced they were also striking out on their own to submit independent bids.

The announcement today — barring a protest — shuts out original TD winners BAE Systems and General Dynamics, as well as newcomer Navistar.

Just plain wow.

General Dynamics seems to be mailing it in lately when it comes to these contests (I mean really?  How could they think that the Duro Eagle could compete...they didn't even design a new vehicle!) and the BAE loss just has me stumped.  I can't wait to read the rationale behind this decision.

Oshkosh

Lockheed Martin