Tactical Wheeled Vehicles

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.

The Marine Corps is asking industry to offer new technologies in support of a service life extension for the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement, according to a March 16 Federal Business Opportunities notice.

The Army has ordered 258 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and 1,727 associated components from Oshkosh Defense for a total of $100.1 million, according to a Dec. 20 Defense Department announcement.

Humvees improved by AM General's enhanced appliqué program will be used in future Army events such as the Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment in November, according to the company's executive vice president of defense.

Battery maker Saft is focusing on lithium-ion batteries for military vehicles, pitching them for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

The House Appropriations Committee released a draft version of its fiscal year 2018 defense spending bill Sunday night that would boost weapons procurement by $18.6 billion above what is sought by the Trump administration and $24 billion more than what was enacted in FY-17.

It will take the Marine Corps "a couple of years" to adjust its approved acquisition objective for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle -- a 65 percent -- increase from 5,500 to 9,091, according to a service official.