Army Moves Forward with New Medium Truck Acquisition.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

* The Army is plowing ahead with plans to procure a new medium tactical wheeled vehicle that will give soldiers increased payload capacity and performance.

In February, the service awarded Oshkosh Defense a firm, fixed-price contract spanning up to seven years that is worth $476.2 million for its family of medium tactical vehicles, or FMTV A2 variant. Oshkosh was the incumbent, having manufactured the previous A1P2 variant earlier this decade.

"The FMTV A2 program is an important opportunity to recover the FMTV's original design margin and incorporate new capabilities into our vehicles--rebalancing the 'iron triangle' of payload capacity, mobility performance and soldier protection for the future," Alvin Bing, product director of the medium tactical vehicles program at the Army's program executive office for combat support and combat service support said in an email.

The new vehicles have features that will improve mobility, ride quality and reliability, he noted. These include: a higher capacity chassis; enhanced underbody protection; a higher output, single 24-volt alternator; an upgraded data bus; increased engine power; and the inclusion of antilock brakes and electronic stability control systems.

Included in the initial award is the delivery of the first 41 production trucks and four production trailers for testing and logistics development, Bing said. Those are expected to roll off the production line in the third quarter of fiscal year 2019 for testing that will run through mid to late fiscal year 2020. Bing expects to have new trucks coming off the line by the second quarter of 2021.

The Army has not specified a particular number of vehicles it intends to buy, he said.

"The total quantity that the Army procures will depend on requirements and funding availability over the period of performance," he said.

The contract also includes the procurement of updates to the governmentowned technical data package, vehicle kits and various technical, fielding and support activities, he added.

The Army already owned the technical data package for the FMTV and used it to re-compete the trucks in 2008, according to the service. Oshkosh won that over the incumbent BAE Systems in 2009, and delivered 20,000 vehicles over a period of three-and-a-half years.

The FMTV has historically "formed the backbone" of the Army's local, line haul and unit resupply missions in combat, combat support and combat service support units, an Army press release said.

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