Rough patch: Marines likely to curtail ground-vehicle wish list.

• Author: Wagner, Breanne
• Position: Marine Corps

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BALTIMORE -- The Marine Corps is struggling to keep its ground-vehicle modernization plans afloat. A combination of overly ambitious technical requirements and higher-than-expected costs threaten some of the Corps' most prized vehicles, including its next-generation tactical trucks and armored personnel carriers.

Three multibillion-dollar vehicle programs--the joint light tactical vehicle, the marine personnel carrier and the expeditionary fighting vehicle--have encountered their share of problems, including schedule delays and significant price hikes, which have forced the service to rework its acquisition plans, officials said during a recent Marine Corps Systems Command briefing to industry organized by the National Defense Industrial Association.

The joint light tactical vehicle--or JLTV--will replace humvees with a far more sophisticated truck whose design must meet tough specifications for protection, payload and performance, said Brig. Gen. Andrew O'Donnell, director of capabilities development at the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

Marines want a truck with lighter armor, increased lethality and survivability, better gas mileage, improved speed and mobility-as well as reasonable prices, O'Donnell said.

An industry competition currently is under way for JLTV, and the Corps expects the program to proceed along, despite the anticipated technical hurdles.

But the financial pressures to fund JLTV--as well as the rising costs of war operations and equipment repairs--have forced the Marines to delay the procurement of their new armored personnel carrier.

The Marine personnel carrier (MPC) is a medium-weight troop transport that was intended to hold nine combat equipped infantry Marines. The MPC family includes three vehicle variants: the personnel carrier, a command and control platform and a recovery version.

The MPC was expected to undergo a major design review in April of this year, but the project was delayed by two years to fiscal year 2010, said Col. Michael Micucci, MPC and light armored vehicles product manager.

The service simply can't afford it right now, Micucci said.

Trying to put a positive spin on news that disappointed many contractors, Micucci said the delay will create a "window of opportunity ... to start teaming, make teaming arrangements to compete on the program. It also gives the program manager the opportunities to look at those emerging technologies that we need to mature."

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