Who Will Build U.S Army's New Medium-Weight Truck?

• Author: Kennedy, Harold
• Position: Constructio - Construction of medium tactical vehicles

The race is on for a multibillion-dollar contract to produce the next generation of trucks and trailers for the U.S. Army's family of medium tactical vehicles.

FMTVs are the Army's sturdy 2.5-ton and 5-ton trucks. The 2.5-ton version--traditionally called a "deuce and a half"--is officially known as a light medium tactical vehicle. The 5-ton truck is called a medium tactical vehicle.

Both are small enough to be airlifted by C-130 air transports and helicopters, but large enough to carry heavy loads of troops, ammunition and other supplies under battlefield conditions, explained Col. Robert B. Lees Jr., medium tactical vehicles project manager at Army Ground Combat and Support Systems, in Warren, Mich.

FMTVs have been deployed to Kosovo, Korea and the Persian Gulf, Lees said. They may be in the environs of Afghanistan, he added, but that couldn't be confirmed at press time.

Previous generations of Army trucks were mostly custom-designed to meet military specifications, Lees explained, but FMTVs use more "off-the-shelf" technology. "They come in 14 variations, including troop carriers, cargo trucks, vans, wreckers and dump trucks," he said. "But they share more than 80 percent of the same parts." This interchangeability of parts substantially eases maintenance and reduces costs, he noted.

The Army began developing the FMTV a decade ago. The plan is to build more than 85,000 of such vehicles over a 32-year period. Thus far, more than 14,000 FMTVs have been built by Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Systems LP, of Sealy, Tex., according to company spokesman Paul Justice. Another 5,800 are to be produced by March of 2003, he said. In addition, more than 100 FMTV trailers have been built, with 1,500 to be delivered by 2003.

Now, the Army is preparing to acquire another generation of FMTVs. Earlier this year, it awarded contracts to Stewart & Stevenson and Oshkosh Truck Corp., of Oshkosh, Wis., to provide prototypes of the new vehicles, to be evaluated in 2002 at the service's Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland. When those tests are completed, the Army plans to use the results to award a $2 billion contract for construction of 14,000 more trucks and trailers over the next five years.

Oshkosh makes a variety of military trucks. Last year, it began full-rare production of the U.S. Marine Corps' new seven-ton truck, known as the medium tactical vehicle replacement. Oshkosh also produces the Army's 8x8 heavy expanded mobility tactical truck, the eight-wheel...