Uncertain times: military services ponder future of their war-worn trucks.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Tactical Vehicles

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MONTEREY, Calif. -- Six years after the invasion of Iraq changed the way the military looked at tactical wheeled vehicles, the Army and Marine Corps are still trying to find the right balance between protection and performance.

How much armor belongs on how many vehicles is still being studied. And new devices are being added to the fleet as operational requirements change.

Up-to-date radios, sniper detectors, improvised explosive device jammers are but a few items added in reaction to the surge in violence. New mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles--MRAPs--were hurried into the field as well. No one is sure yet what will happen to them once they're no longer needed in great numbers.

Furthermore, ground forces must decide which vehicles are "reset"--brought back to a depot and returned to a "like new" condition. Or which ones should be "recapitalized"--stripped down to their frames and rebuilt with the latest technology.

And the so-called Afghan surge may throw new realities for the Army's Tank, Automotive and Armaments Command to consider.

All this makes for an increasingly confusing mix of vehicles and an uncertain future for the military's fleet of tactical wheeled vehicles.

As the Army and Marine Corps contemplate future vehicle designs, they face a challenge that TACOM leaders refer to the "three Ps"--payload, performance and protection--also known as the "iron triangle."

That has been out of balance for a number of years, said Army Lt. Col. Sam Homsy, humvee product manager. Protection now dominates this equation--and rightly so, he said.

"We're skewed heavily towards protection and that's understandable," he said at the National Defense Industrial Association tactical wheeled vehicles conference.

As the military undertakes the slow and methodical process to replace the humvee with the joint light tactical-wheeled vehicle, there will be more than just the three "Ps" to consider, said Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes, Army chief of staff. The tactical-wheeled vehicles of the future will have to serve as sensor platforms, they should be lethal and have the means to extend the network, Speakes said.

So much extra equipment and armor has been added to the humvee, for example, that it is bumping against weight limits. Its replacement, the JLTV,, is being designed with far more sophisticated technology and improved armor, but it may end up being too expensive--estimates range from $400,000 to $500,000 per truck--for the...