Tactical Wheeled Vehicles

As the Army takes a running start toward preparing for multidomain battle in its fiscal year 2020 budget request -- rocketing to $57 billion for next-generation projects over the five-year defense plan -- the service's vehicle programs are the first to pay the bill, including the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

The Army will use middle-tier acquisition, or Section 804, authority to acquire prototypes in fiscal year 2020 for the base kit of a new ground-based signals intelligence and electronic warfare device to initially be tested on a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a $28 billion program to replace about half of the Army's aging humvee fleet, is not operationally suitable on account of deficiencies in reliability, maintainability, crew situational awareness and safety, according to the Pentagon's top weapons tester.

The Army has awarded Oshkosh Defense a $1.7 billion contract to produce more than 6,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and more than 22,000 associated vehicle kits -- the largest single order to date for the program that partially consolidates purchases for vehicles Congress funded over three years.

The Army is seeking vendors to produce two new mortar systems, one an unmanned turret for brigade combat teams and the other a replacement for the current 120 mm dismounted variant. 

Over the last 12 to 18 months, the Marine Corps spent roughly $80 million to combat the counter-unmanned aerial system threat, which includes technology that will be outfitted on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

The scarcity of new ground vehicle development programs means future systems that rely more heavily on cutting-edge technologies will encounter "cost, schedule and performance challenges," according to a new report.

The House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee's mark of the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill contains a handful of provisions for current and future vehicle technologies, as well as MRAP vehicle sustainment.

The Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle procurement schedule has been extended by one year and is now slated to close in fiscal year 2036, as cited in a summary of the Defense Department's December 2017 Selected Acquisition Reports released April 3.