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10 Oct 13. Russian Tigr tested with HITROLE – Light RWS. A Russian Military Industrial Company (MIC) Tigr MultiPurpose Vehicle (MPV) has been fitted with the Italian Oto Melara HITROLE – Light remote weapon station (RWS) and will undertake a series of combination-proving firing trials in Russia. The standard production HITROLE – Light is normally armed with a Western 7.62 mm MG3 or a .50 calibre M2 HB machine gun (MG), which is loaded from the left with the sensor package mounted externally on the right. The Russian 7.62 mm PKT and 12.7 mm NSVT MGs are loaded from the right, imposing some modification to the mount. HITROLE- Light can also be fitted with the 40 mm Mk19 automatic grenade launcher. (Source: Jane’s)
11 Oct 13. The US Army had started a Market Survey for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) – Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP)/Full Rate Production (FRP) Phase in March 2013. The Army Contracting Command has now begun a process to find out what subcontractors are available for the programme. It has called for interested JLTV LRIP/FRP Subcontractors to respond as the list would be published on the Procurement Network (PROCNET) electronic commerce’s portal. The JLTV is an Army-led, multi-service initiative to develop a family of future light tactical vehicles to replace many of the HMMWVs used by the armed services today. It is a joint Army/Marine Corps effort to develop and produce both vehicles and associated trailers. According to DOD’s May 2013 JLTV Selective Acquisition Report (SAR), the Army plans to procure 49,909 JLTVs and the Marines 5,500. The SAR also notes no JLTVs are planned for under Foreign Military Sales (FMS). Originally, there were three variants, but now there are two planned JLTV variants: a four-passenger Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) and a two-passenger Combat Support Vehicle (CSV).
On January 26, 2012, the Army issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the JLTV’s EMD phase and the three companies awarded the EMD contracts were AM General, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Oshkosh Corporation. According to a news report in June 2013, the average production cost was estimated to be at a maximum of USD50,000 per vehicle. The intent behind the market survey was to see what non-EMD (Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase) vendors might be interested in competing for the final contract award, thereby possibly increasing competition and perhaps driving down costs. It is not known if there will be any non-EMD bidders. As a Market Survey, the inquiry does not bind the USG to solicit for or award a competitive contract. Participation in the survey is also wholly voluntary on the part of the contractor as no reimbursements will be made to any contractor for costs associated with their participation in the survey. Participation in this Market Survey, while important to the Army and United States Marine Corp (USMC) acquisition planners, is neither mandatory nor is it requisite to future participation by the contractor in this or a similar contract RFPs. Responses are expected by 1 December 2013. (Source: MPI – Hawk Information)
16 Oct 13. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps are in no hurry to rebuild their ground fleets following the accelerated acquisition of vehicles capable of protecting troops from improvised explosive devices (IED) and related threats in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such is the case as the services develop the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), a program the Army shares with the Marine Corps, to replace the Humvee, which has been in service since 1985. “They are being very deliberate,” says John Bryant, senior vice president of Defense Programs for Oshkosh Defense, which along with AM General and Lockheed Martin received JLTV Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contracts in August 2012, worth a tota