No stranger to scrutiny, new truck program forges ahead.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: Selling to the Army

Confronted by challenges and naysayers, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program so far has avoided ultimate doom.

The Army and Marine Corps in August announced contract awards for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the marquee truck program, which is supposed to give troops greater off-road mobility than a Humvee with the blast protection provided by the much heavier Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicle.

There were hints of protests from losing bidders and even one filed and taken back. As it stands, the field has been whittled down to three contenders that will be under pressure to deliver affordable vehicles to a military struggling to keep costs down.

Oshkosh Corp., which was shut out of an earlier technology development (TD) phase, now has a $56.4 million contract to produce 22 prototype vehicles within a year for further government testing. Lock-heed Martin received a $66.3 million contract and AM General, which previously had teamed with General Dynamics as General Tactical Vehicles for the TD phase, received a $64.5 million EMD contract for an independent vehicle design.

As of early September, GTV officials told National Defense they were still mulling over whether to file a protest. Navistar filed and withdrew one and is keeping an eye on re-entering the competition when it comes time for a production contract.

In the year leading up to the EMD awards, MTV was under scrutiny from every cornet Elected officials recommended cutting some or all of its funding, and the Army and Marine Corps had different visions for the vehicle. Now the Pentagon is touting the program as a prime example of how cross-service collaboration can shave costs and nail down requirements.

"Synergy is imperative in this austere budget," said William Taylor, program executive officer for Marine Corps Land Systems.

The importance of the program both to the military and to the tactical wheeled vehicle marketplace was clear in the interest it generated throughout industry. The Army and Marine Corps even extended the deadline for bids to encourage the broadest possible response from companies. Seven teams ended up submitting proposals for EMD contracts.

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Plans to upgrade thousands of Humvees and similarities with MRAP and its all-terrain variant, the M-ATV, had experts warning of redundancies. But Pentagon officials said there are hundreds of requirements for the JLTV program the other vehicles could not meet.

Chief among them is the lighter weight. The JLTV is supposed to be 14,000...