Army tests next generation tactical vehicles

By Kris Osborn
ARNEWS

	Photo by David McNally/JLTV testing TARDEC The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle drives on a test track at Aberdeen Test Center, Md.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Army and Marine Corps are using the newly built government prototypes of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to refine program requirements through rigorous ballistic, performance and reliability testing.
It’s all part of an effort to field a next-generation tactical vehicle that can hit speeds of 70 mph, withstand roadside bombs and other threats, drive through off-road terrain and fly through the air beneath a CH-47 Chinook or CH-53 helicopter, service officials said.

“The whole purpose of this TD (technology development) phase is to get the requirements right,” said Brett Johnson, JLTV chief engineer.
The three contractor teams for the current 27-month technology development phase—BAE-Navistar, Lockheed-BAE and General Tactical Vehicles­—each delivered seven prototype vehicles engineered to reach an unprecedented blend of performance, payload and protection.

Following a Milestone C production decision in 2013, the Army plans to buy 55,000 JLTVs. Full production is slated for 2015.

“The JLTV Program is implementing the competitive prototyping policy for the Army. What we have in this technology development phase is three contractor teams to help us inform our requirements,” said Lt. Col. Wolfgang Peterman, JLTV product manager. “As we get results from the testing, we will feed that back into our requirements.”

The Army-led program will put the vehicles through blast, mobility and performance testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and reliability testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., as part of an effort to refine the requirements for the next phase of the competition, the Engineering and Manufacturing Development, or EMD phase.

Ballistic hulls and armor coupons have already been tested; now the vehicles will undergo additional survivability testing against a variety of known and anticipated threats, program officials said.

A formal request for proposal for the EMD phase is slated for June 2011, to be followed by contract awards in December of 2011, Peterman said.

“When we go to EMD phase, it will be a full and open competition again. Our plan is to award two contracts for the EMD phase,” he said.

The testing during the TD phase is aimed at lowering risk and production costs by finding and solving challenges, which may arise earlier in the developmental process.

“We’re developing prototypes and requirements for the next phase so that when we enter the next phase we will have a low-risk program,” said Dean Johnson, Marine Corps deputy program manager, JLTV.

The vehicles are built with 85-percent common parts. For example, all of the JLTV variants are built with a 2500 series Allison 6-speed automatic transmission.

There are three different variants or categories of JLTV:

— Category A is a four-person general purpose vehicle with a curb weight of 13,000 pounds and the ability to carry 3,500 pounds of payload and 3,500 pounds of add-on armor.

— Category B is six-person infantry carrier with a curb weight of 15,000 pounds. It is able to add 4,500 pounds of payload and 4,000 pounds of armor.

— Category C vehicle is a two passenger utility vehicle with a short cab/open bed for hauling equipment or putting on shelters. Category C has a curb weight of 15,000 pounds can carry 5,100 pounds of payload with crew, fuel, gear and a full compliment of armor.

In addition, the Army and Marine Corps are preparing to accept delivery of a new Enhanced Protection Variant of the JLTV, which is a modified Category A vehicle designed with additional protections.

Each of the vendors will deliver an Enhanced Protection Variant in the next several months, program officials said.

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