3 décembre 2020 | International, Terrestre

JLTV: New $911M Order Strengthens Oshkosh’s Hand For Recompete

With 9,500 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles already delivered, the Army was running out of room on its existing contracts, so it just ordered another 2,738 from Oshkosh. That'll keep production going through a re-competition scheduled for 2022.

By on December 02, 2020 at 4:49 PM

WASHINGTON: The Army's already shared Oshkosh's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle design with rival companies, who hope to take over the program when a new competition is held in 2022. But, having announced a new $911 million order just yesterday, Oshkosh Defense is confident that it'll fend off all challengers and keep building JLTVs for years to come, general manager George Mansfield told me this morning.

“This contract really shows how the Joint Program Office feels about Oshkosh,” Mansfield said. “They're very confident we build a good quality product, [and] we are on time and under budget so far.”

In fact, Mansfield said, Oshkosh JLTVs were coming in so much under budget that the military was able to buy more vehicles in less time than the original contract anticipated. (And it did so despite cuts to the JLTV budget in recent years). That's why the Army — which runs JLTV on behalf of all the US armed services and seven foreign customers from Belgium to Brazil — had to issue the new contract this fall.

You see, in 2015, when Oshkosh beat aerospace titan Lockheed Martin and Humvee manufacturer AM General, the Army issued a production contract with a maximum value of $6.7 billion and a maximum quantity of 16,901 vehicles. That contract was supposed to last eight years, through 2022. Before it ran out, the Army would hold a new competition, open to all comers, with the winner – perhaps Oshkosh, perhaps a rival – getting a new contract to build JLTVs after 2022.

But Oshkosh kept selling JLTVs more cheaply than the 2015 contract had assumed. That meant the military could buy more vehicles more quickly, even with a reduced budget for JLTV. That meant, in turn, that it ran up against the 2015 contract's 16,901-vehicle maximum this fall, two years ahead of schedule.

So, to keep production going, the Army issued the new contract: an additional $911 million for 2,738 more JLTVs, plus 1,001 trailers and other kit. That brings the total on order to 18,073 JLTVs, of which over half – about 9,500 – have already been delivered.

What does a JLTV cost? That's tricky. Oshkosh doesn't divulge exact prices. The government's estimated Average Procurement Unit Cost per JLTV is $395,000 (once adjusted for inflation; it's $365,000 in 2015 dollars). If you just divide the dollar value of the new contract by the number of vehicles, the average cost per JLTV has fallen below $333,000. But the actual price per JLTV is actually a lot lower than that, because these contracts always include trailers, specialized mission equipment for different JLTV variants, spare parts and support.

The new contract allows the Army to order additional JLTVs through November 2023. That keeps production going through the re-competition, which is scheduled to award a contract in the second half of 2022.

Now, the re-compete is not about picking a new design. Instead, it's about giving the Army the option to pick a new manufacturer for the existing design. Under the terms of the original 2015 contract, the government bought the Technical Data Package that shows you how to build a JLTV and can give that data to any company it likes. In fact, several potential competitors have not only gotten the data package, they've actually leased JLTVs so they can reverse-engineer them.

But while competitors now have the JLTV design, they don't have Oshkosh's facilities, workforce or their years of experience actually building it.

“We've been manufacturing this vehicle for five years,” Mansfield told me. “We know how it's designed because we designed it, we know how to manufacture it, we've got a strong supply base. So I think we're in a very good position.”

https://breakingdefense.com/2020/12/jltv-new-911m-order-strengthens-oshkoshs-hand-for-recompete

Sur le même sujet

  • Marines need to equip defensive cyber teams

    14 décembre 2018 | International, C4ISR

    Marines need to equip defensive cyber teams

    By: Mark Pomerleau The Marines are looking to develop and equip specialized tactical cyber teams with a specific defensive tool set. These teams, known as defensive cyber operations-internal defensive measures (DCO-IDM) companies, are designed to help defend critical digital assets at the tip of the spear. These companies will fall under the newly established Marine Expeditionary Force Information Groups, or MIGs, and one will reside within each MEF providing MEF commanders information-related capabilities to include cyber, intelligence, electronic warfare and information operations. All three DCO-IDM companies have reached the minimum threshold for deployment,though their specific kits are not in place yet, Gregg Kendrick, executive director of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, said Dec. 6 at the Charleston Defense Contractors Association Defense Summit. In the interim, service-retained cyber protection teams — strategic-level defensive cyber teams that feed up to U.S. Cyber Command — are partnering with the companies to conduct operations and participate in exercises. These companies will serve as a “paired down version” of cyber protection teams in the cyber mission force and be employed at the Marine Air Ground Task Force level, said MGySgt Carlos Torres, senior enlisted Marine in the cyberspace division for the Deputy Commandant for Information, during the annual C4ISRNET Conference in May. The companies have used the expertise from cyber protection teams and Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command throughout their establishment. Kendrick said the companies and elements of a cyber protection team participated in the NATO-led Trident Juncture exercise in Norway that took place from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7. Kenneth Bible, deputy director of the C4 directorate and deputy CIO, said Trident Juncture served as a good example of giving these teams exposure to operations and commanders, who want this capability. Kendrick added that the deputy commandant for information, which oversees all aspects of information for the Corps, to include the MIGs, requested Marines with intelligence backgrounds to go to each of the DCO-IDM companies. This will allow them to begin the process of establishing an organic intelligence support ability in the defensive cyber sphere as opposed to having to rely on outside resources, such as Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command. This is critical given the expeditionary and tactical nature of these teams. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/marine-corps/2018/12/11/marines-need-to-equip-defensive-cyber-teams/

  • DARPA: Understanding Warfighter Performance from the Inside Out

    23 janvier 2019 | International, Terrestre

    DARPA: Understanding Warfighter Performance from the Inside Out

    Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA) aims to identify, understand, and monitor in real time the biology that underlies success in specialized roles A new program out of DARPA's Biological Technologies Office could help the Department of Defense enhance and sustain military readiness both by revolutionizing how troops train, perform, and recover, and by mitigating shortages of highly qualified candidates for extremely specialized roles. The anticipated outputs of the Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA) program are a set of biomarkers — measurable indicators of biological processes — that correspond to traits of highly effective performance in a given role, along with new tools to measure and report on those biomarkers in real time. This information will enable individual warfighters to understand and affect the underlying biological processes that govern their success. MBA technologies could improve training, team formation, mission performance, and post-mission recovery, yielding a better prepared, more effective, more resilient force. At its core, MBA seeks to shed light on the biological factors and processes that support peak performance in each of a set of military specializations. The research will work backwards from phenotypes — that is, how an individual's fixed genetic code expresses as externally observable cognitive, behavioral, or physical traits — and attempt to establish the biological mechanisms that translate underlying genetic makeup into phenotypic traits. At present, those mechanisms of translation — also known as expression circuits — are largely a mystery. MBA researchers will develop new assays and technologies to monitor and report on the biomarkers that reveal the activity of key expression circuits. “With existing technology scientists are able to read out genotype and measure and observe certain aspects of phenotype. Most of what happens in between is a black box,” said Eric Van Gieson, the MBA program manager. “DARPA believes that the information inside the box — these expression circuits — can be predictive of how an individual will respond to a given stimulus or scenario, and more importantly, we believe it will help inform the individual on how to improve their performance throughout their career.” Researchers supporting MBA will initially analyze samples and other data collected from high-performing troops across select military specializations to identify biological signatures of successful performance in each of those roles and determine how they can be measured. For instance, maintaining a lowered heart rate during combat is a valuable trait and easily measured with existing wearable technology. Adaptable problem solving, resilience, and cognitive flexibility are extremely valuable, but less easily measured. MBA analyses should reveal an array of such traits and the expression circuits responsible for them. If DARPA succeeds, the resulting MBA system could support military readiness in various ways. The first improvement relates to how the military initially evaluates recruits and subsequently develops candidates for specialized roles. Many of these roles currently suffer from shortages of qualified candidates, even as more pervasive use of complex technologies and an expanding set of mission profiles are increasing demand for uniquely skilled personnel. For at least the past 50 years, initial assessment of military service members has remained essentially unchanged, comprising a basic medical screening, a standardized physical readiness test, and a written test known as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) for enlisted personnel. Scores on the ASVAB feed into the preliminary determination of an individual's qualification for certain military occupational specialties. As a service member's career advances, future placement into other roles does not follow a prescribed protocol and can be based in large part on subjective measures. Against this backdrop, MBA technology could increase the objectivity of the criteria used by military selection committees, remove biases, and raise the baseline of performance for incoming recruits. Additionally, by taking biology into account, the results from MBA measurements could reveal to individuals career options that might not be apparent based on commonly accepted, externally observable traits alone. The second improvement ties to training, both before and after an individual pursues a military career. MBA technology could allow a user to assess his or her personal potential for specialized roles and proactively nurture the traits that are characteristic of successful performers. “Genotypes are fixed, but phenotypes are not. Biology is fundamentally adaptable, and that is the key to enabling performance improvements,” Van Gieson said. “What we're planning to deliver with MBA is a set of continuously updated information that empowers individuals to track their progress throughout their careers and quickly identify what aspects of training and preparation are the most productive.” Third, during missions commanders could employ real-time reporting of changes in service members' biomarkers to inform how a military operation unfolds, adding a layer of biological awareness to provide a more complete assessment of the mission space. Commanders could shift resources or adjust strategies and tactics based on how squad members are performing. Following a mission, biomarker reporting could likewise guide recovery practices and indicate potential health issues. The overall MBA program will be informed by consultations with independent expert advisors in the ethical, legal, social, and regulatory aspects of the work, with particular emphases on privacy, data protection, and responsible utilization of data by individuals. MBA performer teams will be required to provide medical guidance as part of any human study through an embedded genetic counselor, sports therapist, or similar specialist. “Human beings are extremely complex, and although we expect to gain valuable new insights by measuring biology, we also understand that people are not locked into predetermined fates,” Van Gieson explained. “Any breakthroughs we achieve in the MBA program will necessarily be used to address shortages in critical roles by expanding opportunities, not limiting them. If we can provide people with information on their unique biology, and empower them to affect and measure gains in key traits, we'll have opened career pathways that they may not have previously considered.” DARPA will hold a Proposers Day on February 12, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia, to provide more information about MBA and answer questions from potential proposers. For details of the event, visit https://go.usa.gov/xEZeT. A forthcoming Broad Agency Announcement will include complete program objectives, schedules, and metrics. Team should have experience in human performance, phenotyping, multi-scale biology, physiology, biomarker detection and tracking, device development, and various other aspects that will be specified in the announcement. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-01-22a

  • Australia to buy 20 Hercules military transport planes in $6.6 bln deal

    25 juillet 2023 | International, Aérospatial

    Australia to buy 20 Hercules military transport planes in $6.6 bln deal

    Australia said on Monday it would spend A$9.8 billion ($6.60 billion) to buy 20 new Super Hercules military transport aircraft, ahead of a visit later this week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Toutes les nouvelles