The U.S. Army has awarded contracts worth $166 million to three industry teams to develop the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), variously known as the Humvee replacement, although this vehicle will be much more than the ubiquitous Humvee. The winners are Lockheed Martin, General Tactical Vehicles (a joint venture between General Dynamics Land Systems and AM General, manufacturer of the Humvee), and BAE Systems.

The contracts are for the technology development phase of the protracted DOD production process, expected to take 27 months, when each team will produce at least seven prototypes. The idea is to build a family of JLTV's sharing common parts but available in different configurations — such as a six-seat infantry carrier, a four-seat reconnaissance, command and control, heavy weapons carrier and an ambulance. Once the prototypes are tested, the Army will hold yet another competition to down select one or more winners for the system development and demonstration phase. Full-scale production is expected in 2013.

The Army and Marine Corps have not finalized the total number of JLTV's they ultimately want to buy, but an Army press release said the request for proposals included a projected production quantity of 60,000 over eight years. The ultimate production number will almost certainly be much higher. The Army intends for the JLTV to replace 130,000 of the service's Humvees. Australia decided this week to join the JLTV program and might buy up to 4200 vehicles.

Whereas the costly and lumbering MRAP vehicles — versions of which cost up to $1.2 million each — were always viewed as a stop-gap to provide better protect against the scourge of roadside bombs in Iraq.

The JLTV is viewed as a long-term solution. To please the expeditionary focused Marines, the JLTV will be lighter than the Humvee, weighing between 3500 and 5100 pounds. A fully armored Humvee weighs 12,000 pounds and more.

The JLTV is expected to be more resistant to mine blasts than the Humvee, will ride higher off the ground to provide added clearance and will incorporate a V-shaped hull that deflects blasts outward.

The vehicles must be light and compact enough to be carried underneath the Army's CH-47 Chinook workhorse cargo lifter and the Marine's CH-53 Super Stallion heavy lifter, and two JLTV vehicles must fit inside the Air Force's C-130. The target cost per vehicle is $200,000 to $250,000. An armored Humvee costs approximately $150,000.

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