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17 Jun 16. Sources close to BATTLESPACE suggest that the UK MoD has issued the PQQ result for the Protected Mobility Strategic Support Supplier contract but said that proper ITT will not now be issued until the Autumn. This probably means a year’s slip on the planned cut-over date of April 17. So far, sources suggest that Carillion and Leidos with TVS have got through and assume that Babcock-DSG will have done. We do not have any further details.
16 Jun 16. UK in Talks with Pentagon for JLTV Buy. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle could be in line to win its first export order even before the US Department of Defense makes a decision to order full rate production of the platform. The UK’s Ministry of Defence has revealed it is in talks with the Pentagon, which might lead to a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal. The British Army is interested in acquiring the Oshkosh Defense vehicle, set to replace the Army and Marine Corps Humvees, to meet part of a requirement known as the Multi-Role Vehicle-Protected (MRV-P).
“We can confirm that we are talking to the US DOD regarding package 1 [of MRV-P], to inform our understanding of an FMS option for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle,” said an MoD spokesman.
In a separate move to the JLTV talks announcement, the MoD confirmed June 16 that it had drawn up a short-list of contractors to battle it out for a second element of MRV-P and had put a third piece of the requirement on hold for the time being. The MRV-P program is a British effort to equip the army with several types of small and medium, wheeled armored vehicles to support rapid deployment and regular forces with troop carrying, ambulance, command, recovery and other roles.
JTLV is being eyed by the British to provide what is known as package 1, the smallest vehicles for troop carrying and other light duties
Package 2 involves larger troop carrying and battlefield ambulance vehicles with package 3 involving light protected recovery vehicles.
Oshkosh Defense boss John Bryant declined to comment in detail about British interest in the JLTV when interviewed earlier this week but did acknowledge the company was following the MRV-P program “very closely. ”Talks with the British are taking place at a very early stage in the JTLV’s life. The first low rate initial production vehicles are not scheduled to be handed over by Oshkosh until the fourth quarter of this year.
The US government doesn’t normally do FMS sales until there is a full production rate decision on the equipment in question – in JLTV’s case that’s expected by November 2018. That requirement is not carved in stone though.
“If the US Government thought it was appropriate, because of the maturity of the platform, to waive its normal requirement and allow a little bit of early production for an international customer in parallel with low rate initial production it could happen,” said Bryant.
Bryant said though the US Government usually starts to work closely with international partners well ahead of full rate production to formulate a strategy for a particular FMS case.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if discussions were commencing very very soon in order to create the conditions for success in a couple of years down the road,” he said, without naming the US ally in question.
Bryant says there will be no problem accommodating overseas customers on the company’s Oshkosh, Wisconsin, production line even when output for the US military reaches it’s peak.
The US vehicle builder is expected to deliver around 17,000 vehicles to the US military over an eighth year period with orders for thousands more vehicles for the US military to come.
Bryant says there is plenty of capacity for what he reckons will be a significant number of overseas customers operating the platform by the end of the decade.
“At no time will JL