Southeast Michigan contractors to participate in large JLTV defense vehicle bids ..........
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120327/FREE/120329887
Southeast Michigan may play a slightly larger role in bidding on the $6 billion-plus Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, after the U.S. Army Tacom Life Cycle Management Command in Warren gathered five bids for the next phase of development Tuesday.
Returning to the competition, as expected, are General Tactical Systems — a joint venture of Sterling Heights-based General Dynamics Land Systems and Indiana-based AM General LLC — with the “Eagle,” as well as an offering from Lockheed Martin Corp. as leader of an industry team that includes BAE Systems Inc. and Meritor Defense.
But BAE, which houses its Michigan operations including its Heavy Brigade Combat Team business unit in Sterling Heights, also heads up its own industry team proposal which also includes Meritor Defense and submitted the Valanx.
The contractor is also parting company this time with Navistar Defense, a business unit of Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar International Corp. that has 275 employees in Madison Heights.
The two collaborated on the first phase of development for JLTV, but BAE is this time offering a Power Stroke 6.7 liter turbocharged diesel engine from Ford Motor Co. on the Valanx, instead of the Navistar engine included in the initial JLTV phase.
Proposals for the second phase of development on JLTV were due today. Ford had considered submitting its own JLTV proposal after a Pentagon request to the competition last year, but decided to withdraw itself from consideration in February.
The JLTV is a joint U.S. Army and Marine Corps proposal to replace at least 25,000 aging military Humvees with a next-generation light armored vehicle.
Tacom originally awarded three contracts in late 2008 for the first phase of pre-production development, which wrapped last May for the BAE, Lockheed and General Tactical Vehicles industry teams.
Those contracts lapsed in May, and the Army later found the prototypes submitted had exceeded its revised requirements for vehicle weight, and later broadened its next phase of pre-production contracting to consider other proposals.
Also submitting for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development or EMD phase of JLTV are Oshkosh Defense — a division of Oshkosh Corp. that offered up the latest version of its Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle — and Navistar, which in this go-round is offering the Saratoga, originally developed as a possible contender for another vehicle program that the military recently discontinued.
Spokespersons for BAE and Navistar both contended
“We spoke with Navistar about it continually, including today, and the parting is a very amiable one,” said Stephanie Bissell Serkhoshian, director of external communications for BAE’s Land & Armaments division in Virginia. “We are going to move forward with the Valanx, and they are going to move forward with the Saratoga.”
Tacom expects to issue up to three new contracts worth a maximum of $65 million for the 27-month EMD development phase. Production awards would follow, with procurement continuing through 2022 according to Tacom.