Despite having lost the manufacturing and production contract for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) platform earlier this year, US-based Oshkosh still maintains an interest in the programme with the US military.
On 21 August, the US Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the company a $40.1m modification for work on the JLTV programme, with an estimated completion date of August 2025. Fiscal year funds for 2022, 2023, and 2024 were obligated at the time of the award from the US Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy, and US Air Force.
The JLTV will replace much of the US military’s light vehicle fleets as the ageing Humvee platform, manufacturing by AM General, is removed from service.
Oshkosh loses out to AM General for JLTV production
In February this year, AM General beat Oshkosh to the continuation contract to deliver around 20,000 JLTVs in the years ahead in a multi-billion-dollar deal, which will see the former company produce the latter’s own JLTV A2 design for the US Army.
According to reports at the time, in a competition-based contract environment is designed to provide the most efficient and cost-effective service for the US Army, bidders did not have a guarantee for programme success when contesting a tender issued by the US DoD.
Oshkosh immediately protested the award of the contract to its rival, arguing that the US Army’s evaluation of proposals, conduct of discussions, responsibility determination, and its selection decision were “all unreasonable”, according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The US GAO subsequently denied the protest, detailing in a 12 June redacted release the reasoning behind the decision by the US Army to award AM General to contract to manufacture the JLTV family of vehicles. This included a $795m difference in value adjusted total evaluated price between the two bidders, with AM General coming in at nearly $8.19bn compared to Oshkosh’s near $8.97bn bid, or around 9.7%.
Both bidders were graded the same for production process, source control, and small business plan, rated ‘good’, ‘outstanding’, and ‘good’ respectively. However, AM General was graded higher for the primary technical and technology enhancement and architecture categories, rating ‘outstanding’ to Oshkosh’s ‘good’.
According to the GAO, the source selection authority noted that AM General’s proposal was more advantageous under the technology enhancement and architecture subfactor because it offered better, less risky upgrades, and found that Oshkosh’s proposal “did not contain any advantages that would justify the $795m price premium”.
Speaking with Army Technology earlier this year following AM General’s award of the JLTV contract, a senior company official detailed that concurrent manufacturing lines had been established that will see the JLTV and next-generation Humvee produced side-by-side.
