via Lockheed Martin Press Release.
The Lockheed Martin team produced a total of 22 JLTV test vehicles, which were manufactured at BAE Systems' Sealy, Texas, manufacturing facility, a world leader in the production of military and severe-duty wheeled vehicles. Delivery to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps for long-term testing and evaluation is scheduled for August 22.Sorry.
"Lockheed Martin is committed to providing our soldiers and Marines with a vehicle of unequalled capability and dependability, and one that is affordable both to buy and to operate," said Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "We are excited to get these vehicles into the hands of the customer. Early break-in testing is under way, and we are confident that our JLTV design will serve our servicemen and women well."
Following successes in the program's Technology Development phase, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps awarded Lockheed Martin a $65 million contract in August 2012 to continue developing JLTV through the EMD phase. Initial tests demonstrated that the Lockheed Martin design provided blast protection equivalent to much larger mine-resistant vehicles in service today.
The Lockheed Martin Joint Light Tactical Vehicle balances the "iron triangle" of protection, performance and payload while maintaining affordability. Compared to general-purpose vehicles currently in service, the Lockheed Martin JLTV will provide greatly improved crew protection and mobility, lower logistical support costs, superior fuel efficiency and state-of-the-art connectivity with other platforms and systems. The team's current JLTV design maintains the proven force protection, transportability and reliability of the earlier Technology Development model, while significantly reducing weight and cost.
I can't get excited about this concept.
It doesn't thrill me and if I can't get the MPC then we don't need this. The Commandant signed onto this to placate the US Army and everyone in the Corps is screaming to just upgrade the existing Humvees.
Lets see exactly how far his "jointness" goes. If he continues with the JLTV then we know that its not about whats best for the Corps but rather what can he do to please another branch. Our armor house is in shambles. The AAV is elderly, the M1A1 is in need of upgrading, the MTVR has been rode hard and the only thing that is new is the EFSS, whose mission I still have to figure out.
We'll see what we'll see but confidence is not high.
Maybe the corps should consider buying more upgraded LAV to fill the gap voided by MPC. Two LAVs can lift a squad. It has more protection and firepower than HUMVEE, plus limited swimming ability. Right now all LAVs are assigned to LAR battalions for specialized missions, who says it can’t be a troop carrier.
ReplyDeleteway too small and it swims like a lead weight. they call the LAV-25 amphibious but that's damn near a lie.
DeleteI laughed at your comment about the EFSS, so very true.
ReplyDeleteI am still a supporter of JLTV. If you take a basic HMMWV and put on the granite tactical blast module, arvin meritor suspension and an upgraded driveline you basically have a JLTV. The only item left from the old vehicle is the frame rails. You are better off building something new and not being limited by design decisions made in 1982.
Even cost wise I am not too sure that a HMMWV is cheaper once you include the same level electronic equipment that a JLTV has. I want to say a basic up-armor is about $180,000, then throw in the radios, BFT and the price tag is somewhere around $325,000.
I could be wrong but I believe the price of the JLTV includes an integrated comm suite and BFT like system.
Be wary of bean counters talking about 100,000 HMMWVs, because they are not combat ready.
wait! i thought the JLTVs that we were getting were less armored than the US Army version. if that's the case then the Granite version will be better armored than new JLTVs...at least for the Marine Corps.
DeleteLast I checked we are getting a less armored version. I have not seen the specs but I am hoping that it is still superior to the granite. Not a knock on granite but again there is only so much you can do when you have to have something that bolts onto the old frame rails.
DeleteOn defense industry daily it lists basic JLTV cost at 250,000 with no electronics. So looking at a price difference of roughly 70,000 per vehicle.
I would be interested to see real numbers on the trade off of a fully upgraded HMMWV vs. the new JLTV. The USMC has shown less interest in the upgraded HMMWV fleet than they did the MPC. They tease industry and ask for ideas but I have never seen anything serious.