February 11, 2021 | International, Land
Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Oshkosh Defense recently produced its 10,000th Joint Light Tactical Vehicle -- more than half it's orders for the vehicle -- the company announced Tuesday.
Oshkosh officials pointed to the JLTV becoming a central piece of the U.S. military's ground force, as both the Army and Marine Corps plan to adopt the vehicle, as making the milestone significant.
Oshkosh Defense has received orders for 18,126 JLTVs for a total contract value of more than $6 billion.
"Producing the 10,000th JLTV in under five years is further evidence of our ability to meet the demands of our domestic and international customers," George Mansfield, vice president and general manager of joint programs for Oshkosh Defense, said in a press release.
The JLTV was developed by the U.S. Marine Corps and the Army to replace the Marines' aging fleet of Humvees.
The vehicle includes variants with multiple mission package configurations, including packages for personnel, heavy guns and close combat weapons.
The first contract for JLTVs was awarded in 2015 and the first orders were placed in 2016.
In addition to outfitting the United States with JLTVs, Oshkosh has received orders for the vehicles from overseas allies and partners including, Britain, Belgium, Montenegro, Slovenia, Lithuania, Brazil, and North Macedonia.
February 8, 2024 | International, Land
The aim of the multi-phased program is to replace the Army’s family of heavy tactical trucks, with production of up to 40,000 trucks valued at up to $14 billion.
October 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
David B. Larter WASHINGTON – The US Navy's top officer has tasked a former surface warfare officer turned engineering duty officer to create a powerful, all-connecting network service leaders believe they will need to fight and win against a high-end foe such as China. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday tasked Rear Adm. Douglas Small to lead an effort that will “develop networks, infrastructure, data architecture, tools, and analytics that support the operational and developmental environment that will enable our sustained maritime dominance.” Calling the effort “Project Overmatch,” Gilday called it the Navy's top priority after the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. “Beyond recapitalizing our undersea deterrent, there is no higher developmental priority in the U.S. Navy,” Gilday said. “All other efforts are supporting you. Your goal is to enable a Navy that swarms the sea, delivering synchronized lethal and non-lethal effects from near-and-far, every axis, and every domain.” In the past, Gilday has referred to the effort to field a powerful network as its “Manhattan Project,” harkening back to the rapid development of the atomic bomb in the 1940s. The urgency behind the effort to create this network highlights the growing sense of unease the Navy has around its position in the world as China builds towards its goal of achieving first-rate military power status by 2049. “The Navy's ability to establish and sustain sea control in the future is at risk," Gilday said in his letter. “I am confident that closing this risk is dependent on enhancing Distributed Maritime Operations through a teamed manned/unmanned force that exploits artificial intelligence and machine learning. I am not confident we are building the Naval Operational Architecture connecting and enabling this future force as quickly as we must.” The network is to connect with the Air Force's Joint All-Domain Command and Control effort, which the services are all lining up behind. Breaking Defense first reported the memo. Small started his career as a surface warfare officer but became an engineering duty officer in 1997. He has a background in electronic warfare and above-water sensors, as well as work at the Missile Defense Agency. In the Oct. 1 memo, Gilday has tasked him to report after 60 days, then every 90 days after that. In a separate memo to Vice Adm. James Kilby, the Navy's top warfighting requirements officer, Gilday said he wanted the Navy to develop both a concept of operations and a coherent kill chain based on an “any-sensor, any-shooter,” construct, an idea that would mean that any track obtained by any sensor can be passed to any ship or platform with a missile with which to kill it, something that would be enabled by Small's network. ‘We don't have and adequate net' In comments last year, Gilday said the Navy needed to move out with urgency to create a powerful network. “The biggest challenge for us is to join all the main command and control,” Gilday said. “We're building netted weapons, netted platforms, and netted [command-and-control] nodes, but we don't have an adequate net, and that's a critical piece.” The Navy has been working toward a concept of operations that links its ships, aircraft and unmanned platforms by way of communications relay nodes — such as small drones — or whole ships — such as the future frigate or high-tech aircraft like the E-2D Hawkeye. The idea is to spread the force out over a wide area, as opposed to clustered around a carrier, to put a maximum burden on Chinese intelligence and reconnaissance assets. This spread-out, networked force would connect the various shooters so that if any individual node in the network sees something to kill, any Navy or Air Force asset with weapons within range can kill it. This has led to a push for ever-longer-range missiles. But to make it work, all the pieces must be linked on a reliable communications network. The current architecture, according to the Navy, is insufficient for the job, given Chinese and Russian investments in electronic warfare that can interfere with communications. https://www.c4isrnet.com/naval/2020/10/14/the-us-navys-manhattan-project-has-its-leader/
March 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
“This was a tough decision,” association president Carter Ham told Breaking Defense, but with over 6,000 people expected to gather in close quarters, “I am confident this is the right decision.” By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. UPDATED with McConville, Jette, Quad-A statements WASHINGTON: The Association of the US Army has cancelled its annual winter conference in Huntsville, Ala. Scheduled for next week, the Global Force Symposium & Exhibition is the latest major event shut down as a precaution against the contagious COVID-19 coronavirus, which Army researchers have been mobilized to combat. The virus has shut down parts of the F-35 fighter supply chain and caused the Pentagon to restrict travel and implement social distancing measures. “Sydney, we have truly enjoyed having the Global Force Symposium and Exhibition in Huntsville over the past several years, so this was a tough decision,” retired Gen. Carter Ham, AUSA's president and CEO, told me in an email this morning. “Last year, about 6,400 people attended. But, out of concern for the health and safety of the expected attendees and exhibitors, I am confident this is the right decision.” UPDATED Army leaders scheduled to speak at the conference were quick to signal their support for AUSA. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/coronavirus-ausa-cancels-huntsville-conference