The U.S. Army and Marine Corps co-hosted a three-day preproposal conference at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Feb. 19-21, to inform industry of the U.S. governmentAca,!a,,cs acquisition strategy for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Program.
JLTV is a Joint U.S. Army/U.S. Marine Corps program with the U.S. Army designated as the lead service.
The conference came two weeks on the heels of the U.S. ArmyAca,!a,,cs February 5 release of a Request for Proposal which invited suppliers, through a full and open competition process, to submit proposals for the development of a JLTV Family of Vehicles. The JLTV FoV, and companion trailers, will be capable of performing multiple mission roles, and will be designed to provide protected, sustained, networked mobility for personnel and payloads across the full Range of Military Operations.
JLTV provides a vehicle platform which will utilize, to the maximum degree possible, solutions and technology being developed in the Army's Future Combat Systems program, the Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center, the Army Research Lab, and the Office of Naval Research as well as commercial industry advances. The JLTV FoV will be used by all U.S. services. Several foreign governments have already expressed a strong interest in joining the development of the JLTV vehicles.
Each attendee at the conference received a two-inch thick spiral-bound handout which outlines in detailed fashion the JLTV requirements for mobility, transportability, communications connectivity, and supportability. In addition, presentations were provided on the Earned Value Management process that the JLTV Program will utilize to control cost, stay on schedule and achieve performance objectives.
The conference included numerous presenters from all program areas of expertise who provided industry with detailed guidance on how to craft their proposal to address the four important evaluation factors (Technical, Logistics Commonality, Cost and Past Performance/Small Business Participation).
Additionally, the government shared lessons learned from various research efforts and displayed vehicles developed under the ArmyAca,!a,,cs Future Tactical Truck System Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, and the Office of Naval Research Combat Tactical Vehicle Technology Demonstrator.
Despite a mid-west snowstorm and frigid temperatures in the teens, the conference was attended by over 200 Industry representatives, along with some International attendees.
Aca,!A"Today was a great meeting at Selfridge and we are excited to be part of this program,Aca,!A? said Kenneth G. Juergens, JLTV program director, Northrop Grumman/Oshkosh Truck Corporation Team, who traveled to the conference from Oshkosh, Wis.
Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh Corporation announced a teaming arrangement last Fall.
To the Army and Marine CorpsAca,!a,,c awareness, several industry teaming efforts have been formed to compete for JLTV contracts along with a few companies whose partnering plans are yet unannounced. They are:
Aca,!Ac Northrup Grumman and Oshkosh Corp.
Aca,!Ac General Tactical Vehicle, a Joint Venture between AM General & General Dynamics Land Systems
Aca,!Ac Lockheed Martin and BAE (formerly Armor Holdings)
Aca,!Ac BAE Systems and International Military and Government, LLC, an affiliate of Navistar International Corporation (International Military and Government LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Truck and Engine Corporation).
Aca,!Ac Boeing, Textron and SAIC
Aca,!Ac DRS Sustainment Systems Inc. and Force Protection Inc.
Aca,!A"I personally got a lot out of this,Aca,!A? said Michael Franklin, a member of the BAE Systems Team, who traveled from just outside Los Angeles to attend the conference. Aca,!A"You can only get so much information from a [ArmyAca,!a,,cs JLTV] Web site,Aca,!A? said Franklin.
Aca,!A"This forum allowed time for networking and just talking with others which I found very helpful,Aca,!A? said Franlin.
"This was an important investment of time for key Industry representatives to come to Selfridge in order to fully understand the entire scope and direction of the JLTV effort and hear the governmentAca,!a,,cs Aca,!A"lessons learnedAca,!A? during more than three years of precursor research and development efforts,Aca,!A? said Col. John Aca,!A"SteveAca,!A? Myers, project manager, Joint Combat Support Systems.
Asked whatAca,!a,,cs next in the JLTV way ahead, Myers indicated the Government will convene an evaluation board in April to review industry proposals to the JLTV RFP.
Aca,!A"The board, comprised of subject matter experts from across the Department of Defense, will evaluate submitted proposals and we expect to make three contract awards based on Aca,!A"best valueAca,!A? to the government in July 2008,Aca,!A? said Myers. Aca,!A"This will then launch the planned contract performance of the Technology Development Phase wherein the JLTV prototypes will be developed and tested.Aca,!A?
A System Development Demonstration phase is currently planned to get underway in 2011 for the JLTV where two contractors will complete the design and development of the JLTV FoV, and companion trailers, and ultimately compete to produce and field multiple JLTV variants.
Aca,!A"Pre-proposal conferences like this one are essential in ensuring that we are as open and transparent as we possibly can be,Aca,!A? stated Lt. Col. Wolfgang Petermann, JLTV Army product manager.
Aca,!A"Every large, medium and small business that was represented here, now goes away with the same amount of information knowing it is a level playing field,Aca,!A? said Petermann.
Aca,!A"It is exciting to see how far we have already come in this program,Aca,!A? said Lt. Col. Ben Garza, U.S. Marine Corps JLTV program manager.
Aca,!A"We have an achievable schedule and the overwhelming turnout by Industry is indicative of how successful this program is going to be,Aca,!A? said Garza.
For more information about JLTV, contact Don Jarosz, TACOM LCMC Public Affairs at 586-574-8820, or David M. Branham, PEO Land Systems, Marine Corps, at 703-432-4956, or http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/peolandsystems/.
Social Sharing