Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh JLTV reduces operating and support costs

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) family of vehicles designed by Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh Corporation is easier to support and maintain, more available to operational forces, and uses less fuel than the current fleet, according to the two companies.

The JLTV family of vehicles will replace the current fleet of light tactical trucks and will be capable of performing a full range of military missions. It is envisioned to be stronger and more survivable than other vehicles in its class and to be more mobile and manoeuvrable than the mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle, or MRAP, now being deployed in Iraq.

The US Department of Defense is expected to award three contracts for the 27-month JLTV Technology Demonstration phase around the end of June.

If selected, Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector will be the prime contractor and systems integrator. Oshkosh Corporation's Defense Group will be responsible for designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicle, including the armour system.

With more than 93 percent of the high-level components common across the JLTV variants, the Northrop Grumman-Oshkosh vehicle reduces the logistics footprint and lifecycle costs.

The common parts and systems include power generation, engine, cooling, batteries, brakes, fluids and filters. During all levels of vehicle maintenance, a major advantage of commonality, vehicles can be serviced and returned to the field more quickly than current vehicles. Fewer spare parts need to be kept in inventory, and maintenance personnel can be trained more quickly with less need for refresher training.

"TeamNOW (Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh for the Warfighter) is building its competitive offering from new requirements based on current and future warfighter needs, not old specs," said Joe Gray Taylor, vice president of Ground Combat Systems at Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector. "We are able to ensure our design considered commonality at every decision point to positively influence supportability and greatly reduce risk. Risky or cumbersome field modifications are not required to meet performance parameters."

"TeamNOW's JLTV design is not only a technically superior product in areas such as integrated logistics but also one that is modular and easily upgraded to take advantage of technological innovation and serve the military for the next three decades," said John Stoddart, executive vice president, Oshkosh Corporation and president, Oshkosh Defense.

TeamNOW selected Plasan, a developer and manufacturer of armour systems for the military and commercial market, for the Technology Demonstration armour design, engineering and the armour solution.

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