gct 3-3 (june 2012)

June 2012 Volume 3, Issue 3

www.GCT-kmi.com

LandSystems Leader

William E. Taylor

PEO Land SystemsU.S. Marine Corps

The Publication of Distinction for the Maneuver Warfighter

Ground Vehicle Subsystems Coatings and Corrosion Prevention

Col. Peter A. Newell Director Rapid Equipping Force

Interview with:

JLTV EAGLE:BUILT FOR THE FUTURE.

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There's only one JLTV solution that is ready now to meet all payload, protection and performance needs for the Warfi ghter now and as battle threats evolve: JLTV EAGLE, from General Tactical Vehicles.

Ground Combat teChnoloGy June 2012 Volume 3 • Issue 3

Features CoVer / Q&a

Industry InterVIew

32

Donald E. HoweSenior Director, JltV Program

General tactical Vehicles

44

William E. TaylorPeo land Systems

United States Marine Corps

34

Costly CorrosionCorrosion is an immensely expensive waste for a U.S. military that faces tough fiscal times. But new coatings and tactics promise to cut costs of corrosion.By william Murray

8

Ground Vehicle SubsystemsVehicles are gaining impressive new capabilities thanks to innovative subsystems that provide more engine power, more lethal weapons, advanced communications and much more.By Peter Buxbaum

16 JLTV Program OverviewAfter a near-death experience in the Senate, the Joint light tactical Vehicle program now is the only game in town for six first-rank vehicle makers. we interview the top JltV program leaders in each of the rival firms.By Dave Ahearn

26 JLTV SystemsCheck out the myriad systems that may go on the JltV and look at the wares that many suppliers are offering for the next workhorse vehicle of U.S. military forces.By Dave Ahearn

29 JLTV Variationsthe JltV—successor to the world war II Jeep and the HMMwV identified with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—will provide warfighters with a wide array of talents, playing multiple roles on the battlefield. By Dave Ahearn 2

4

6

14, 31

43

Editor's Perspective

Intel

People

Innovations

Resource Center

Rapid Equipping Force

37

exclusive InterviewCol. Peter A. NewellDirectorrapid equpping Force

departments

Moves to slash heavy military vehicle production capacity are unwise and should be avoided, a House leader said.

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) tactical air and land forces subcommittee, spoke in an interview with Ground Combat Technology. He warned against pending moves by some in Congress to cut or suspend some vehicle programs as ill-considered.

In deliberations on the fiscal year 2013 defense bills, there have been moves to kill the HMMWV recapitalization program, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program (since revived, with Bartlett’s subcommittee voting unanimously for full funding), administration proposals to shutter production lines for the Abrams main battle tank and the Bradley fighting vehicle for several years, a $1.3 billion cut proposed for the Ground Combat Vehicle program, and more.

Bartlett sees a need to step back and reconsider. Shutting down the Abrams and Bradley programs might not make financial sense, he cautioned: “We aren’t certain it would save any money.”

He spoke after the subcommittee, in a bipartisan vote, unanimously backed defense authorization legisla-tion that he wrote providing $181 million to continue upgrades to existing Abrams tanks and $140 million for improvements to Bradleys. The legislation then was approved by the full HASC. The GCV and JLTV are fully funded.

Bartlett said Pentagon leaders must produce hard figures comparing savings from a production shutdown against the cost of keeping production lines—and the skilled employees who operate them—working.

“As far as I know, they have no estimate of how much it would cost to shut them down and start them up,” Bartlett explained. “They have no money in their budget for shutting them down.” Contractors such as BAE Systems and General Dynamics would have to be compensated for costs of closing and then reopening facilities.

Regarding extra dollars the subcommittee adds for those programs, Bartlett said, “I’m not sure it’s going to represent any increase in cost” compared to funds needed to shut down and reopen facilities.

Opponents of shutting down lines and reopening them, and critics of eliminating or slashing vehicle programs, stress that the United States needs a viable defense industrial base, which cuts will imperil.

The Publication of Distinction for the Maneuver Warfighter

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Compiled by KMi Media Group staffINTEL

Army OKs Company to Proceed to Phase II In Carbine Competition

The Army notified Beretta it will be allowed to move into the second phase of the Individual Carbine Competition (ICC), Gabriele de Plano, Beretta vice president, military marketing and sales, said. That means that the Army found the Beretta carbine, the ARX 160, a weapon with enough merit to continue in the competition.

“We passed Phase I and move on to Phase II,” de Plano explained. In Phase I, Beretta and rival gun-makers gave the Army their candidate weapon, along with some initial documents.

Now Beretta will have to submit more docu-ments by June 1 that will outline how the company would manufacture the ARX 160 if the Army decided it wished to replace the venerable M4. Other paperwork would focus on quality, technical subjects, past performance of the company, fielding of the weapon, small business participation and more.

The Army also will begin firing the candidate weapons in Phase II.

In May next year, the Army will downselect to as many as three of the weapons, and then decide which carbine is best by the end of 2013. There is no guarantee, however, that the Army at that point would buy the top gun, de Plano noted.

Companies Form Joint Venture to Produce Tank Ammo

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Rheinmetall Defence formed a tank ammunition joint venture company named Defense Munitions International LLC (DMI). The new company will develop and market new and existing 120 mm kinetic energy and multi-purpose cartridges for the U.S. and international tank ammunition markets.

DMI combines the partners’ full range of development, production and sales activities of 120 mm tactical ammunition for main battle tanks. By combining their activities in DMI, the two partners aim to broaden their global market access, expand production efficiencies and selectively engage in joint development work. Select cartridge types and 120 mm practice ammunition will not be part of this joint venture arrangement.

This forward-looking joint venture is the culmination of the longstanding partnership between General Dynamics and Rheinmetall Defence. For over a decade the two companies have worked together on numerous 120 mm ammunition projects, such as development and production of the KEW-A1 and KEW-A2 advanced tungsten kinetic energy ammunition for Abrams users worldwide.

Additionally, Rheinmetall has fielded the DM 63 tungsten kinetic energy round for the German Bundeswehr and other NATO users of Leopard tanks.

Under the joint venture, DMI will continue these efforts while working to add further improvements to the KEW family. The company will also develop and produce advanced multi-purpose ammunition, leveraging the success of Rheinmetall’s DM 11 cartridge, which was recently fielded by the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan.

Army Seeks Handheld Targeting Device

The Army Contracting Command wishes to obtain a handheld precision targeting device. This solicitation will result in a single commercial firm-fixed-price contract. Details are available on the Federal Biz Opps site, at solicitation number W91CRB12R0028.

Army to Obtain M4A1 Carbines

The Army is procuring 24,000 M4A1 carbines, under a contract awarded to Remington Arms Co. in Ilion, N.Y. The $83.9 million firm-fixed-price contract calls for work to be performed in Ilion by April 12, 2017. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with six bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., manages the contract.

Anti-IED Work to be Obtained

CACI-WGI, Chantilly, Va., was awarded a $32.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for services in support of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.

Work location will be determined with each task order, with an estimated completion date of April 3, 2013.

The bid was solicited through the Internet, with six bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., handles the contract.

www.GCT-kmi.com4 | GCT 3.3

MERI5706 [email protected] 1 5/8/12 10:40 AM

Brigadier General Robert M. Dyess Jr., who has been selected for the rank of major general, director, Requirements Integration Directorate, Army Capabilities Integration Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Eustis, Va., has been assigned to director, force development, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.

Air Force General Mark A. Welsh III has been nominated for appoint-ment to the rank of general and for assign-ment as chief of staff, U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Welsh is currently serving as commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe/commander, Air Component Command, Ramstein/director, Joint Air Power Competency Center, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Air Force Lieutenant General Larry O. Spencer has been nominated for appointment to the rank of general and for assign-ment as vice chief of staff, U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Spencer is currently serving as director, force structure, resources and assessment, J-8, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Brigadier General Thomas S. James Jr., commandant, U.S. Army

Armor School, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, Ga., has been assigned to deputy commanding general, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

L-3 Communications announced the appoint-ments of Craig Reed and John Heller to the L-3 Services Group’s execu-tive leadership team. Reed and Heller will assist with implementation plans for the Engility spin-off and

then transition to Engility once the transaction is complete.

Colonel Walter E. Piatt, who has been selected for the rank of brigadier general, commandant, U.S. Army Infantry School, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, Ga., has been assigned to deputy commanding general, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Fort Drum, N.Y.

Compiled by KMi Media Group staffPEOPLE

Compiled by KMi Media Group staffINTEL

Abrams Pact Awarded

The Army awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., a $31 million firm-fixed-price contract to procure 46 Abrams M1A2 system enhancement package V2 vehicles.

Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio; Scranton, Pa.; Anniston, Ala., and Tallahassee, Fla., with an estimated completion date of November 30, 2014. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., manages the contract.

EMD Phase Light Armored Vehicle Mod Program AdvancesRaytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, was awarded a $19.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the engineering and manufacturing development

phase for the Light Armored Vehicle Anti-Tank Modernization Program.Work will be performed in McKinney and in Goleta, Ga., with an estimated completion date of April 15, 2019. The bid was solicited through the

Internet, with two bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., handles the contract.

M-ATV Pact Awarded CompetitivelyThe Army awarded Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., a $16 million firm-fixed-price contract for

services supporting the mine resistant ambush protected all-terrain vehicle.Work will be performed in Afghanistan, Japan, Germany, and Oshkosh, Wis., with an estimated

completion date of December 31. Five bids were solicited, with five bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., manages the contract.


Beginning in 2018, if all proceeds according to schedule, the U.S. Army will be replacing the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles with a new ground combat vehicle (GCV). The GCV, once fielded, is expected to serve as the Army’s infantry fighting vehicle for some years to come.

A simultaneous similar program is surging forward to replace the venerable HMMWV with the joint light tactical vehicle, which also would provide improved performance and protection for warfighters. (See full section in this issue.)

One proposal for the GCV is being worked on by a team headed by BAE Systems. This vehicle would include a number of subsystem innovations, designed to answer warfighter needs for more vehicle engine power, enhanced lethality of weapons, easier integration of communications and information systems and improved soldier protection. These BAE innovations include a hybrid electric propul-sion system, modularized vehicle armor and next-generations C4ISR systems.

A competing version of the vehicle has been proposed by General Dynamics, heading a team that also includes Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, along with Tognum America offering a propulsion system including MTU diesel design.

Many military contractors have developed other vehicle sub-systems—not necessarily to be included in the GCV—seeking to accomplish these same goals. These goals include the provision of cutting-edge communications that allow video to be transmit-ted to the tactical edge and active protection systems, which can detect and deflect threats to the vehicle and its occupants. All of these innovations are designed to protect warfighters and permit them to prevail in battle.

Hybrid electric vehicles have been touted in the civilian auto-motive market as a solution to promote fuel efficiency and to reduce dangerous emissions and dependence on foreign sources of energy. In the case of the BAE Systems proposal for the GVC, fuel efficiency is a secondary benefit to the hybrid electric propulsion system being designed for the vehicle. The primary benefit for the GVC is an increase in performance.

BAE Systems, together with teammates Northrop Grumman and QinetiQ, is developing a hybrid electric drive vehicle for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle under a contract that was awarded last year. “This system is a scaling of the propulsion systems that were developed under the Future Combat Systems and much of

Vehicles gain mileage, power, protection from enemy threats.By peter BuxBaum

gct correspondent


the same team is involved,” said Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager for weapons systems at BAE. Future Combat Systems (FCS), a program canceled in 2009, was to provide a new class of vehicles equipped with the latest networking technologies.

“We are seeing a natural evolution of the technology,” Signo-relli continued. “The propulsion system was originally scaled to a 24-ton vehicle, then up to 32 tons, and now it has been scaled to a 70-ton vehicle. The interesting piece is that this technology is almost infinitely scalable. Electric power is very mature and well understood.”

The GVC is still in its technology development phase. The Army’s functional review of BAE’s work is scheduled for later this year, at which point the project will presumably move into a preliminary design phase.

While many associate hybrid drives with fuel efficiency, BAE views the performance require-ments of the vehicle as the real driver toward the move to electric drives. “Torque, sustained speed and acceleration are the primary requirements,” said Signorelli. “Weight, packaging, reserve power and electric power generation are some of the secondary requirements, all of which, taken together, indicate hybrid as the best solution. Other characteristics that motivated us to go the hybrid route include reliability, maintainability and availability.”

Another advantage of electronically controlled transmissions is the physical decoupling of the engine from the transmission, according to Signorelli. “This has the effect of being able to reduce the size of the overall package,” he said. “You can also get creative on how you package the overall vehicle. We are always trying to optimize vehicle configurations against a set of constraints. Not having the engine directly hooked to the transmission or bolted to the drive shaft eliminates one of the major constraints.”

The GCV is designed to carry a three-man crew and a nine-man squad. The vehicle will carry more armor protection than the Bradley, yet will not compromise on performance thanks to the more powerful propulsion system. “The GCV will acceler-ate faster than the Bradley and will, by our estima-tion, either be as fast or faster than the Abrams tank,” said Signorelli. “We believe performance will be right up there with the Abrams, which will be great for brigade combat teams. There has always been a performance lag between the Abrams and the Bradley. Now the two vehicles will be able to maintain the same acceleration and speed.”

While fuel efficiency was not the driving force behind the hybrid system, BAE estimates that the GVC will save 10 percent to 20 percent in fuel over comparable mechanical drive systems. The current GVC schedule calls for the first pro-duction vehicles to be delivered in 2018.

Mark Signorelli

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www.GCT-kmi.com GCT 3.3 | 9

weapon systems

Innovative weapons sys-tems for ground vehicles include remote weapon sta-tions that can be operated with the hatch closed so as not to expose warfight-ers to hostile fire. Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Samson family of modular remote weapon sta-tions supports various types of small- and medium-cal-iber machine guns, and is mountable on a variety of vehicles.

“The Samson RWS 30 remote weapon station is for mounting medium caliber automatic cannons,” said Giora Katz, a Rafael cor-porate vice president. “It is suitable for most light armored, high mobility vehi-cles. RWS 30 allows under-the-deck operation without occupying space inside the vehicle.”

The RWS 30 fire control system includes a day/night sight, a laser rangefinder, and a GPS-based true-north finder, all of which provides the operator a situational awareness picture on a display inside the vehicle. The fire control system is driven by an on-board computer, which enables integration into battle management systems.

“The fire control system enables the operator to put the weapon very accurately on a target and enables him to shoot first with a minimum of mistakes,” said Katz.

Other components of the Samson family include the Samson Dual, which simultaneously mounts two weapons; the Samson Mini, which is designed for use on light wheeled or tracked combat vehicles; and the Samson Jr., for platforms which require a minimum of deck load.

Rafael’s Samson has been mounted on vehicles of the Israel Defense Forces as well as on platforms of international militaries which Katz was not at liberty to name.

BAE is contemplating the integration of next-generation weapons systems on the ground combat vehicle. “We are working on integrating high-energy weapons on the platform,” said Signorelli. “Because the vehicle will be producing a lot of electric power, we are exploring including high energy lasers and high power microwaves. These kinds of weapons could be deliv-ered in the very near future if there are requirements for those systems.”

Vehicle communications subsystems now are able to transmit video to warfighters at the tactical edge. A small L-3 Communications device known as the ROVER (originally developed by the U.S. Air Force as the Remote Operations Video Enhanced Receiver) is able to receive video feeds from airborne

vehicles and from satellites. The ROVER product line, now in its sixth generation, can be vehicle mounted or handheld, and in its latest iterations is capable of transmitting as well as receiving.

“ROVER’s remote video terminal enables a soldier on the ground to receive video data,” said George Hill, vice president of L-3’s communications systems group. “If a unit is pinned down someplace, a UAV can fly overhead and provide the unit with situ-ational awareness so that they can get commands on what the next move is. All of our data links … are meant to fulfill ISR missions.”

ROVER systems 2 through 6 all use C- and Ku-band satellite communications signals. Beginning with the ROVER 4, the S-band link was also included. The devices through ROVER 4 were strictly receivers. Beginning with ROVER 5, the product became a trans-

mitter as well. The ROVER can receive video trans-missions from a variety of transmitting platforms.

The biggest development in ROVER technology has been reduction in size and weight. “The ROVER 3 and 4 packages which connected the receiver to a Panasonic Toughbook, together with the cables and antenna, weighed 13 pounds,” said Hill. “The ROVER 5, which has the capability to receive and transmit, is in the 4.5 pound range. The Rover 6 packs even more capabilities into the same or smaller space.”

As radios and other communications equipment have shrunk to a fraction of their original size, while

using much less power, some of them need help boosting their sig-nals. To that end, booster amplifiers, such as those manufactured by AR Modular RF, were developed and deployed.

“Our products extend the range of existing systems,” said Chris Heavens, the company’s vice president and general manager. “Traditional transceivers have an output of 10 to 20 watts, about the same as a small light bulb. That was adequate for the way the military did business in the old days. Now with the increasing

Chris Heavens

A weapon station. [Photo courtesy of NP Aerospace]


use of jamming and the additional volumes of transmissions with everyone carrying a radio, there is a lot of noise at the front lines and the guys want more power.”

AR’s amplifiers, which work with satellite communications, can boost a radio’s power to as high as 125 watts. As radios have become more complex, with frequency hopping, encryption and software defined waveforms, so have the amplifiers. “The boxes amplify automatically and they adjust frequency automatically,” said Heavens. “The amplifiers can extend the communications range of a vehicle from one or two or three miles to six or 12 miles depend-ing on the terrain and the locality.”

Recent developments in transistor technology have facilitated the current extended mode of com-munications on the battlefield. “Transmissions used to last an average of five to nine seconds,” said Heavens. “Now they are staying on the air for many minutes at a time as they are uploading or down-loading images and video. The radio and amplifier components are now made to be resistant to the heat which is being generated by these longer transmissions. Today’s radios change networking modes faster and frequency hop faster, and our amplifiers are keeping up.”

On the ground combat vehicle, BAE teammate Northrop Grumman is developing a C4ISR module that incorporates off-the-shelf components. “It is a scalable, modular additional computing

backbone for the vehicle,” said Signorelli. “They are using open standards, including the Army’s victory architecture to allow easy integration into C4ISR systems.” Victory was developed as an alternative to the bolt-on approach to integrating C4ISR systems into ground vehicles by embedding interfaces for these systems directly into the platform.

protectiVe systems

The military’s tactical vehicles have operated in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and are likely to continue to operate in future conflicts in close quarters to adversaries. As such, they are subject to a number of vulnerabilities, including ballistic threats from machine gun fire as well as attack by rocket propelled grenades and other rocket-propelled, armor-piercing weapons, to which they were not subject in earlier conflicts.

There are a number of types of systems that are available to protect vehicles and their occupants

from these threats. These include passive defenses, such as various forms of armor, from steel to fabric to composites, which enable a vehicle to absorb the force and blunt the trauma associated with an RPG hit. Passive defenses also include reactive systems, which endeavor to mitigate the effects of an armor-penetrating munition once it has come in contact with the exterior of the vehicle by

Don Bray


setting off a low-level charge, which diverts the munition away from the vehicle interior.

Active defenses are those which detect, classify and track incoming threats before launching a countermeasure that blocks or diverts an RPG, or disables it in such a way as to prevent it from penetrating the vehicle’s armor. Active RPG protection systems include the ASPRO (Armored Shield Protection) system, also known as Trophy, marketed by Rafael. The systems are designed to enhance the survivability of tracked and wheeled armored tactical vehicles against a variety of battlefield threats.

Trophy defeats incoming threats with three phases of opera-tion: threat detection, threat tracking and, finally, activation of a kill mechanism that neutralizes the threat using a counter-measure before it impacts the vehicle. The threat detection and warning subsystem consists of several sensors, including search radar with four flat-panel antennas, located around the protected vehicle. The neutralization process takes place only if the threat is about to hit the platform.

Trophy has already been retrofitted on some of the Israel Defense Force’s existing Merkava Mk 4 main battle tanks. All Mer-kavas now coming off production lines are being outfitted with Trophy, according to Katz.

“The system detects, tracks and classifies threats by radar,” he explained, “and then destroys the threat with a countermea-sure. Trophy protects against a wide range of threats, including all known anti-tank rockets and anti-tank missiles. The system

provides full performance against short-range threats, in close and urban terrain, and under all weather conditions. It can engage several threats from each direction arriving simultaneously.” The system is available in three varieties suitable for heavy, medium and light vehicles.

The countermeasure is based on a technology known as mul-tiple explosive form penetrators (MEFP). “MEFP is a way to create a very fast hit directly at the incoming threat,” said Katz. “Trophy was active last year in Gaza in an incident we believe is the first case in the world that an active protection system defeated an incoming missile directed at a tank. We believe that soon most military vehicles around the world will be protected with this type of system.”

Another innovation in vehicle ballistic armor comes from NP Aerospace in Troy, Mich. The idea NP Aerospace has come up with is to incorporate ballistic protection in the structure of the vehicle, obviating the need to add armor later.

“NP Aerospace has a long history of designing and developing structural composites with ceramic materials,” said Don Bray, the company’s business director for armor. “There are many armor systems out there that incorporate ceramics, but they are not structural. We can incorporate armor protection into the cab of the vehicle.”

The company’s technology, known as Camac Armor Systems, is based on high-performance, glass fiber-reinforced composites which are consolidated under pressure. “Camac forms a protective shield up to 20 percent lighter than the equivalent steel armor, yet able to defeat a wide range of threats, including fragmentation, high-velocity small arms, grenade attack, mine blasts and burning fluids,” said Bray. “Exhaustive tests have demonstrated that Camac not only outperforms all previous lightweight armor systems but it also offers many innovative structural advantages. Camac is lightweight, repairable, upgradeable and has been battle tested by the British army in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Camac is currently undergoing testing at the Aberdeen Prov-ing Ground in Maryland. “We have already proven the system for ballistic and IED protection on United Kingdom military vehicles and they have seen a lot of service with good results in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Bray.

NP Aerospace’s composite crew enclosures for tactical vehicles are called the R-MED, available in two-, four- and six-man con-figurations. The R-MED boasts high levels of ballistic and blast protection and comes with blast attenuating seats. NP Aerospace is currently working with vehicle manufacturers to incorporate these concepts into their designs.

BAE systems is also incorporating blast mitigation seats and the latest in soldier survivability systems into the GCV. It has also come up with a modular armor concept which allows for swapping out armor kits depending on the threat.

“Not all missions will require maximum protection,” said Signorelli. “Soldiers will be able to choose the armor kit specific to the threat relevant in any operation. This approach is going to be a very big step forward in the armoring of military vehicles.” O

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Compiled by KMi Media Group staffINNOVATIONS

New Displays Developed for Combat VehiclesGeneral Dynamics Canada introduced the

new ultra-rugged SD8000 family of smart display

products with the quad-core third generation Intel

Core processor, bringing the latest in commercial

computing to military vehicles, the company

announced.

These new smart displays meet the computing-

intense requirements of the battlefield while

conserving size, weight and power inside military

vehicles, GD Canada stated.

“Quad-core processing effectively doubles the

computing capabilities of previous dual-core smart

displays,” said David Ibbetson, general manager,

General Dynamics Canada. “Increased demand

for warfighters to have rapid and direct access to

information and sophisticated battle management

applications requires highly integrated battlefield

computing solutions. Now, with our next generation

Smart Displays, we are bringing this capability to our

customers the same day it is available to commercial

industry.”

“The growing use of sensors and high definition

video, along with heavy processing requirements

for critical battlefield management and on-site

embedded training/mission rehearsal applications,

amplifies demands on vehicle computing systems,”

explained Matt Langman, director of marketing,

Intelligent Systems Group at Intel. “By harnessing

the increased energy efficiency and enhanced 3-D

graphics and video capability native to the third

generation Intel Core processor family, General

Dynamics can provide critical computing capabilities

while maintaining processing speed.”

The next generation displays are naturally

convection-cooled to meet rigorous military

standards. Additional key features include touch

screen, multiple video and audio input channels,

streaming and snapshot video capture, multiple

vehicle-bus interfaces, wireless communications,

VoIP capabilities, embedded Ground-Based GPS

Receiver Application Module, multiple I/O ports and

a solid state hard drive. General Dynamics has also

integrated Intel virtualization technology to enable the

use of multiple independent levels of security/safety,

a high assurance security architecture for controlled

information. Developed for ground combat vehicles in

harsh military environments, these enhanced product

features provide a flexible platform that adapts to

the changing dynamics of missions while supporting

interoperability and future technology enhancements.

Suspension Eases Ride for Warriors in HMMWVs, JLTVs Meritor will provide a better suspension for HMMWVs and the future joint light tactical vehicle, the company

announced. The advanced technology is provided in the ProTec Series 30 High Mobility Independent Suspension

(HMIS).

The ProTec Series 30 HMIS product line has been proven to deliver the payload, performance and protection

to meet the extreme demands of the military market. This mature suspension is designed for applications

requiring gross axle weight ratings up to 14,000 pounds to handle the rough terrain of real-world combat. It is

currently in use on combat vehicles in Afghanistan and has been integrated into several applications, including

the HMMWV and JLTV, to demonstrate improvements in ride quality, vehicle mobility, off-road speeds and load-

carrying capacity with lower life-cycle costs.

Meritor is appearing at trade shows with the Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory trailer that demonstrates defense

vehicle testing capabilities, including two shock dynamometers and a coil spring compressor for large military

high-rate springs. The trailer is unique to the industry, traveling throughout North America as a working lab

supporting testing and tuning capabilities for Meritor Defense products, including the ProTec suspension.

IED Materials Kit Completes Testing

The Navy Explosives Ordnance

Disposal Technology Division

(NAVEODTECHDIV) completed

testing funded by the Joint

Improvised Explosives Device

Defeat Organization (JIEDDO)

of the Ai-HME bulk Homemade

Explosives (HME) Precursor

Detection Kit, manufactured by

American Innovations Inc. It was

developed under a cooperative

research development agreement

with the Naval Surface Warfare

Center. Ai-HME kits detect in

seconds nitrates and chlorates,

differentiates urea from urea

nitrates, and do not false-alarm on

diammonium phosphate, a widely

distributed legal fertilizer not used

to manufacture HME.

According to DoD leadership,

in 2011, enough ammonium

nitrate fertilizer to manufacture

140,000 bombs was smuggled

into Afghanistan through the

borders of southern and eastern

Pakistan.

The Ai-HME Kits are being

used for site exploitation, route

clearance, patrolling, raids,

K-9 support, training and entry

control points. By detecting and

destroying the common raw

materials being used for main

charges in approximately 90

percent of IEDs in Afghanistan

before they are manufactured

in the HME (HME precursors),

white space is being created for

warfighters, saving lives.

Ai-HME kits fielded to the

Army and Marine Corps include

a redesigned molle pouch to

support JIEDDO’s Bulk HME

recognition guide, victim

operated IED recognition guide,

sensitive site exploitation guide,

and updated Ai-HME instructions

reflecting feedback from

earlier Ai-HME kits fielded into

Afghanistan.


JLTV Program OverviewThe Army and Marine Corps have attracted six first-rank manu-

facturers that together have five centuries of experience in develop-ing and building military vehicles, in a competition to design and build the next iconic military truck, the joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV).

In a series of exclusive interviews with Ground Combat Technol-ogy, leaders of those stellar companies explained in detail how the JLTV will serve combatants facing the enemy threat, with that half-a-millennium of experience benefiting warriors.

The six firms encompass the top tier of military vehicle manu-facturers, company teams that entered the fight by submitting JLTV proposals to the Army and Marine Corps. (See the Q&A interview with William E. Taylor, PEO Marine Corps Land Systems, in this issue.) The joint program will award up to three contracts for rival teams vying to enter the next phase in the JLTV program.

Those six proposals kicked off a second phase of the competition that was widely expected to draw only three rival company teams wanting to build the JLTV—successor to the storied Jeep of World War II and HMMWV of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The initial technology development (TD) phase drew participa-tion from rivals BAE Systems, General Tactical Vehicles (a joint venture of AM General and General Dynamics) and largest contrac-tor Lockheed Martin heading a team that also includes a unit of BAE Systems located in Sealy, Texas. The government’s announcement that it would award up to three contracts indicated that each of the rivals might receive one. But now the ensuing JLTV program engi-neering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase has attracted proposals not only from those three providers, it also has drawn proposals from AM General with a vehicle of its own, plus contenders from Navistar and Oshkosh. Clearly, this has become a hard-fought competition.

The soaring industry interest in the EMD phase of the JLTV program was driven in part by the fact that the JLTV program has become the only game in town for military vehicle makers, as other defense vehicle programs have been cut, canceled or suspended. The fiscal firestorm has enveloped a wide array of programs to produce vehicles, ships, aircraft and more, in what several lawmakers said is an ill-considered move that would damage both the military and the U.S. defense industry.

Consider: The JLTV program itself was killed by a Senate com-mittee, only to be revived later. The HMMWV Modernized Expanded Capacity Vehicle program, to rebuild the venerable ride so as to protect warriors from IEDs, was canceled. Meanwhile, $1.3 billion was whacked from the ground combat vehicle development program. And there are proposals to suspend for years the Abrams tank and Bradley fighting vehicle programs.

The impetus for the cutbacks lies in a deficit-reduction law enacted last year that mandates up to $1 trillion of defense program

cuts over a decade, with almost half of those reductions being set in place now, and the other half taking effect in January unless alternative deficit reductions are adopted before then.

One possibility for avoiding all of the damage to defense programs would require Congress to do nothing: Current law says the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire at the end of 2012, so if lawmakers don’t extend the cuts, that would raise $4 trillion over a decade—obviating any need for defense program cuts or cancellations.

A crucial point here is that defense programs are vital to men and women in uniform who serve in harm’s way, with the JLTV as a premier example. This new vehicle would be developed to safeguard those personnel from enemy IEDs, the foremost killer of U.S. and coalition warfighters in Afghanistan. In other words, the JLTV would save lives of American combatants.

The JLTV, in some ways, would seem to be an impossible vehicle: It would have to be sufficiently lightweight to be carried by some aircraft, but also so robust that it could protect its occupants from an IED or RPG blast. Further, the vehicle would have to carry a modest sticker price, it would have to cost relatively little to operate—includ-ing enviable fuel economy—and it would have to be dependable, while being able to take on a vast array of different missions. All that would have to be wrapped up in one vehicle, so it is fortunate for the military that the best brains in the industry will be working on this.

The panoply of benefits in the JLTV designs were detailed in a series of interviews Ground Combat Technology conducted with the top leaders of each of the JLTV programs in the six competing company teams.

Those leaders carefully explained how the JLTV will save taxpay-ers money, save fuel that costs $400 a gallon delivered in theater, and save lives on the battlefield—a win-win-win situation.

am general

If you’re talking light tactical military vehicles, you’re talking AM General, according to Chris Vanslager, executive director of business development.

The company built 280,000 of its signature High Mobility Mul-tipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, or HMMWVs, which have reigned for decades as the ubiquitous ride for military men and women in the United States and other nations. That clearly qualifies AM General to produce the 21st-century military truck transport, the JLTV, Vanslager said.

To do that, AM General is proposing the Blast Resistant Vehicle-Off Road (BRV-O). With the BRV-O, the warfighter gains an “armored capsule design that provides the mobility, the performance, the protection, survivability—as well as the modularity—all within the affordability targets” set by the joint Army and Marine JLTV program leaders, Vanslager argued.

exclusiVe interViews: industry leaders explain how JltV Benefits warriors.By daVe ahearn

gct editor


DISCOVER THE FUTURE JLTV AT AMGENERAL.COM

© 2012 AM General LLC

The shortest distance between two pointsIt’s easy to draw a straight line from AM General to the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle for U.S. warfi ghters. At the start is AM General’s 50-plus years’ experience in LTV design, engineering, manufacture and global support – more than any other U.S. company. Add 11 years of independent R&D and more than 300,000 miles of testing for the next-generation LTV. All this leads to BRV-O, the defi ning solution that meets or exceeds 100% of JLTV program evaluation criteria including protection, performance, payload, transportability and affordability. From start to fi nish, AM General’s BRV-O is the right choice for the JLTV family of vehicles.

BRV-O: Blast Resistant Vehicle – Off Road

1007A12_BRV-O_GroundCombat_SWOP.indd 1 5/16/12 11:14 AM

In setting the JLTV requirements, he added, “The Department of Defense has spent a lot of time to figure out how they were going to be able to go ahead and keep this program focused and keep it paid for in the out years, knowing that the budgets were going to decline. I think they did a good job.”

Vanslager emphasized that the BRV-O meets the JLTV require-ments, stressing that BRV-O “has been matured over the last 10-11 years through AM General’s considerable investment.”

Aside from meeting current requirements, BRV-O also will be able to meet shifting future warfighter needs as the enemy threat evolves, Vanslager continued. BRV-O “has the flexibility both within the chassis, very much so in the crew capsule protection, to meet not only the threat of today but to quickly, rapidly adjust to the unknown threats that are in the future,” he explained.

That’s important, because “the battlespace changed consid-erably over the last decade, and we’re all planning for the bat-tlespace, again, to change within the next three decades.” The BRV-O is “lighter weight than what everyone has expected, so it meets all the transportabiity requirements that were evaluated,” he added.

Reduced to a mathematical equation, lighter weight and a more powerful engine equal vastly better performance. “We also are offering something that’s much more fuel-efficient than what could be expected, all packaged within a high-performance power train, to be able to provide not only what meets [requirements] today, but also if the threat changes, if additional armor is needed in future, to be able to accommodate that additional weight,” he noted.

The BRV-O won’t suffer the same problem that the HMMWV did several years ago, when enemy IED blasts forced the military to add heavy armor to the light vehicle, damaging its performance, Vanslager vowed. “The realization came that the automotive per-formance and mobility was lagging because of all that additional weight that was never planned for in the first place.”

AM General has built up enormous expertise, having built roughly 1.25 million vehicles ranging from the quarter-ton all the way up to the five ton. “When you’re talking about this size vehicle … we’ve been doing that for the last 30 years,” he said.

The BRV-O can accommodate additional armor without the negative impact that it had on the HMMWV, in which the engine,

transmission, suspension and axles were not designed to accept that weight, and performance suffered.

Unlike the HMMWV, the BRV-O would be better off-road. Of course, going off-road, the enemy can’t predict the BRV-O’s path to put IEDs in it, or be there to fire RPGs. So the BRV-O, not only with its better armor, but with its ability to go off-road, would increase protection for the warfighter.

That multi-level system of protective features is key to the BRV-O, Vanslager disclosed.

“Protection comes in multiple layers, multiple forms,” he said. “It’s been known for a while at the Department of Defense that protection [comes] in multiple ways. They describe it as the protection onion, or survivability onion, where you go ahead and you don’t want to be seen. You don’t want to be heard,” since the enemy can’t, say, fire an RPG at a vehicle when they don’t even know it’s in close proximity. “This vehicle is quieter than previous versions.”

Going off-road provides yet another means of avoiding enemy IEDs, he continued. “Having the vehicle off road, being able to come in from a different direction” that the enemy doesn’t expect helps to counter the foe’s lethal intent.

Aside from protecting the warfighter, the BRV-O offers other benefits, Vanslager explained.

For example, the lighter weight of the BRV-O translates into better fuel economy, a critical factor considering that fuel convoys are a favorite target of enemy forces wielding RPGs. If vehicles such as the BRV-O use less fuel per mile, that means fewer fuel convoys must supply those vehicles, and the enemy has fewer targets. “You need fewer fuel trucks, [meaning fewer] times vehicles are going to have to expose themselves” to enemy attack, he emphasized.

As well, higher mileage on the BRV-O means lower vehicle operating costs for the military.

“If you’re talking fuel efficiency, you’ll not only have [fewer convoys], but you’re also going to be less expensive from a prod-uct life cycle standpoint,” Vanslager reasoned. Lower “total life cycle costs will help reduce that logistics tail that the Depart-ment of Defense continues to struggle with, has struggled with for years.”

The BRV-O. [Photo courtesy of AM General]

BRV-O with weapons station. [Photo courtesy of AM General]


Bae systems

In offering the Valanx vehicle as a solution for the JLTV, BAE Systems has a message with multiple themes, according to Glenn Lamartin, BAE Systems JLTV capture lead, and Deepak Bazaz, BAE JLTV program director.

First, being a company that was involved in the technology development phase of the JLTV program confers an insightful and experiential advantage on a vehicle maker that many other potential providers in the EMD phase of the program lack, Lamartin said.

“We were one of the three teams selected to participate in TD,” he said. “As a consequence of that experience, we’ve learned a lot about what works well and what does not. And we’ve gotten a lot of feedback from government testing and the results of that testing, and we’ve gotten feedback from the Army and Marine operators, warfighters, about the features of our vehicle—what they like and what they could see improved. “

That has helped BAE Systems in designing the Valanx, he explained. “We’ve listened and applied the lessons from that [TD phase] experience to refine our design over time and make it even better. Some of the competitors don’t have that experience. They’ve got vehicle experience, but they don’t have the benefit of having participated in that technology development phase.”

Second, the Valanx was designed from the beginning to be a lightweight but nonetheless safe and survivable ride, rather than a heavy hauler trying to be light, Lamartin continued.

“Starting heavy for us doesn’t make good sense,” he explained. “Starting with another vehicle and adapting it doesn’t make good sense either. So our JLTV solution is purpose built for the JLTV

The Valanax. [Photo courtesy of BAE Systems]


requirements. It was designed from the ground up with that bal-ance [of protection, performance, payload, cost, transportability and other criteria] in mind. And we’ve been continuing to refine that design over the years to offer a better solution.”

If instead BAE had tried to take a platform that wasn’t created to be a light tactical vehicle, it would have fallen short in many areas, Lamartin said.

“If you try to take a vehicle that’s designed for other purposes, whether it’s a HMMWV that you somehow upgraded, or a vehicle that was designed to a different set of requirements, and if you seek to adapt that vehicle to achieve a balance—payload, protec-tion and performance—in a light tactical vehicle, you have to make compromises. You might not have the interior space in the vehicle to accommodate the large armored soldiers of the future. You may not have the onboard power generation capability to drive the C4I equipment. You might give up some off-road mobil-ity. You may not have height adjustment to drive on and off ships or airplanes.” But the Valanx has all of those attributes.

Third, BAE Systems is touting the durability of its proposed vehicle. With an open architecture for future upgrades and a long-lasting aluminum structure, the Valanx will be able to last the full 40 years that the JLTV program leaders envision, accord-ing to Lamartin.

“We’ve built our design on an aluminum structure,” he con-tinued. “Steel structures are more prone to corrosion, which can become a problem for a vehicle that’s designed to have a 40-year service life.” The BAE Valanx will be both low cost to buy and low cost to operate, he observed.

Bazaz outlined how this works. Deliberately designing the vehicle to accommodate future technologies as they are devel-oped, without any major change in the vehicle, can be a major cost saving: “You can alter the design and still not have to tear up the entire vehicle,” he reasoned. “By adding Northrop Grumman to our team, they’ve done that in the C4I world, and they’ve done that in continuing to progress the technology without tearing up the legacy vehicles that they’re on.”

Adding another factor also provided cost savings and valuable development work already completed: Ford Motor Co. will be a supplier contributing the Valanx engine.

By using the Ford Powerstroke 6.7 liter diesel engine, linked to an Allison transmission, BAE and the military get the advan-tage of the engine’s millions of miles on the road and Ford engi-neering expertise, without having to pay for development of that engine, Bazaz said. As well, the Valanx gets the benefit of the Ford worldwide supply and logistics infrastructure. While BAE hasn’t conducted a detailed study of operational and logistics costs, Lamartin noted that “clearly, Ford has that global footprint that we would love to take advantage of” in using the Powerstroke engine.

He also expressed it this way: “This was an opportunity for us to take a mature, operational commercial product and integrate it into our vehicle in order to improve performance, reduce weight, improve reliability and get cost out.”

Finally, the military must consider not only the cost of pro-curing the JLTV, but also examine what it will cost to operate a huge fleet of vehicles over four decades, Lamartin continued.

”When we talk about cost and affordability to the military, there is an acquisition cost but there is also the cost of through-life support,” he stressed. “And we are very mindful of finding ways to help get that cost down, too.”

general tactical Vehicles

General Tactical Vehicles, in offering the Eagle, is providing a low-risk candidate for the JLTV program, Donald E. Howe, senior director, JLTV program, General Tactical Vehicles, emphasized.

“We are offering a modified non-developmental type of platform,” rather than attempting to use risky and untried new technologies. Instead, by working with known and proven systems, GTV can “pro-vide the critical capabilities that the customer is looking for,” Howe said. “This is low risk.” GTV with its Eagle solution was a participant in the TD phase of the JLTV program, and thus has already amassed a comprehensive understanding of what the vehicle must be and how to provide that.

One major reason he can say that with certainty, he said, is that the Eagle isn’t just designs on paper. Rather, it is a functioning vehicle in service today. A major industrialized nation—Germany—is using the Eagle in its military forces currently, Howe said, with more than 600 vehicles delivered to customer that have racked up more than 1.4 million fleet miles on the vehicles.

“They are fighting side by side with our soldiers in Afghanistan,” Howe said. “It’s there. It’s proven.” That includes, he pointed out, 440,000 combat miles in theater. In use by German forces, the Eagle has achieved an enviable record of more than 5,200 miles between mean failures, he reported.

While the vehicle used by the Germans isn’t the same as the Eagle being offered to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, it is highly similar, with the Eagle needing just a few “minor tweaks” to meet JLTV program requirements, Howe said. “We are not going to affect anything that is critical to design of the product.”

In presenting the Eagle to the U.S. military, “We’re not predic-tive,” he said. “We’re not sitting here telling you what it will do. We have footage showing you what it does do.”

And, he added, not only is the Eagle vehicle design low-risk, but there is little risk in having GTV team up two of the largest and most

The Eagle enters a transport. [Photo courtesy of General Tactical Vehicles]


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experienced military vehicle providers—General Dynamics and AM General—to create the JLTV. GTV brings to the table more than “120 years’ experience in designing and building combat tactical vehicles.” That includes an extensive background that General Dynamics commands with the Stryker, a highly survivable vehicle. In evaluating GTV, the military sees that “we have proven ourselves in the past,” he said. “We will be able to field this vehicle with very low risk.” Howe cited a measure of risk versus maturity in vehicle design, saying that “We meet level 6 or greater maturity.”

Further, he said, the JLTV envisioned by Pentagon leaders is the right vehicle at the right time for the Army and Marine Corps. “We think that it the absolute right way to go,” he said. “The customer has taken this program in the right direction.”

As it enters the JLTV EMD phase, the Eagle responds to each of the JLTV requirements, Howe continued. For example, a key require-ment is that the JLTV—despite being a light vehicle—will protect troops well from IED and other enemy weapon blasts. And the Eagle does just that, Howe said. “The Eagle will meet all survivability requirements,” he stated.

But while able to take a hit from the enemy, the Eagle isn’t so heavy it can’t be airlifted to the fight. “It will meet all transport-ability requirements,” Howe continued, “by air—fixed wing and rotary wing—sea and rail.”

And the Eagle will be able to go off-road with ease, permitting troops to drive in unpredictable routes, he continued.

Further, in the requirement for a lower cost troop transport, the Eagle provides an affordable solution. Not only will the GTV Eagle meet the Army-Marine Corps price point for the vehicle, “right now our projection is that we will beat those cost targets,” Howe reported. And he cited other strong points for the Eagle: “There’s a proven supply chain,” he said. “We have supplier net-works” in existence today.

Howe concluded by pointing to reasons the Eagle should be the JLTV, “because of the high reliability, because of the performance that translates into low cost. These are not projections” about a vehicle that could be developed in future. “They are facts” about an existing platform in combat. There is no doubt that the Eagle “will yield lower or reduced life cycle cost,” Howe emphasized. “It’s not only affordable now to buy, it is also affordable to maintain.”

lockheed martin

In a time when defense budgets may be severely constrained, the Lockheed Martin Joint Light Tactical Vehicle candidate offers a low-cost solution that at the same time protects warfighters and carries an array of other benefits, according to Kathryn Hasse, JLTV program director with Lockheed Martin.

The company gained invaluable experience by participating in the TD phase of the JLTV program, which can inform the Lockheed Martin work in the EMD phase, Hasse observed. More than draw-ings on a computer screen, Lockheed has actual miles rolled up on existing vehicles. “We have the benefit of participating in the first phase of the program, the technology development program,” she said. “We had a very successful JLTV design. Between the government and our own internal test program, we’ve achieved over 160,000 miles on our design.” That means the Lockheed

candidate vehicle doesn’t rely on risky or unproven technologies, she added. “We’ve been able to demonstrate to the government that it’s a proven design in both their tests and our tests; that it’s low-risk in terms of being able to close the iron triangle, and that it’s reliable: 160,000 test miles over the courses that we ran on is a very significant achievement.” Perhaps the most critical of the JLTV program requirements is to protect vehicle occupants during IED or other enemy weapon blasts, and that is where the Lockheed JLTV is a standout, Hasse continued.

“From a performance standpoint … protecting our soldiers and our Marines from blasts is very important to both the Army and the Marine Corps,” she noted. “We’ve demonstrated in gov-ernment tests that we can provide a level of blast protection that’s equivalent to some of the mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles that are currently in theater.”

But that doesn’t mean the Lockheed JLTV is a ponderously heavy vehicle, she said. “We can do it on a platform that is still capable of being sling loaded by helicopter, whether it’s a CH-47 or CH-53. So one of the big differences between JLTV and, for example, the various MRAP vehicles—depending on which one you’re looking at—you’ve got essentially equivalent blast protec-tion in a vehicle that weighs about 40 percent less.”

That lighter weight translates into improved fuel economy, which in turn means fewer fuel convoys are needed in theater to support the Lockheed Martin JLTV, she said. Hasse cited “a very significant improvement in terms of overall fuel efficiency, which we … hope we get to carry forward into the EMD program.”

The Lockheed Martin team includes a BAE Systems unit in Sealy, Texas, plus Cummins Engine, Allison Transmission, Robert Bosch LLC, Meritor Defense, Lotus Engineering, L-3 Combat Pro-pulsion Systems and Vehma International of America.

Another key advancement in the Lockheed JLTV is the ability to go off road, to take unpredictable routes that are unknown to an enemy planting IEDs, she said.

She stressed “the ability to avoid the more traditional or pre-dictable IED placements” by going off road, adding that such a capability is “a huge benefit off the JLTV program. And again, that mobility is a capability that we have demonstrated to the govern-ment, in the government [TD] test program.”

Lockeed Martin JLTV. [Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin]


One reason the Lockheed Martin JLTV solution easily meets all the JLTV program requirements, Hasse explained, is that Lockheed didn’t begin with another vehicle intended for another mission.

“We had the luxury of starting with a white sheet of paper and a true understanding of what it is that the Department of Defense was trying to accomplish with the JLTV program.” By beginning with a fresh start, she continued, “we designed the vehicle around the warfighter—to ensure that they could conduct their mission. And part of conducting their mission is ensuring that they get to the fight rested and actually able to perform it. So we understood that we had to provide a very significant level of force protection, at the same time returning this significant off-road mobility. So our design—we looked at it very holistically. Our performance is based not just on the suspension—although that’s an important part of it—but it is based on the integrated design,” in a system of systems approach.

This process also meant that the Lockheed JLTV avoided the problem that plagued early HMMWVs, in which there was no margin for growth in weight of armor and other variables, so that the engine, transmission, axles and suspensions strained to carry the burden. Instead, the Lockheed JLTV is very modular, Hasse said. “Any JLTV is going to be in the government inventory for decades. And we know that technology will continue to advance and improve over that period of time.”

Future changes in the enemy threat, and in U.S. technologies to counter the threat, mean that any JLTV will have to evolve, rather than remain in a static form, she said. “So it’s important from a sus-tainment perspective and from an upgrade perspective, to be able to relatively easily upgrade various components, whether it’s an engine or a transmission or B-Kit armor or C4I package, to incorporate the new technology at the point in time that the Department of Defense wants to do that,” she concluded.

naVistar

As the military considers the Navistar Saratoga solution for the JLTV, it is critical to note that once the winning candidate vehicle is chosen, the company selected must then be able to produce the vehicles in large numbers, according to Regis Luther, vice president, military products and initiatives with Navistar Defense.

That is where Navistar can shine, with past performance to prove it, he said. For example, when the Army suddenly found it needed a wrecker, Navistar responded with the MaxxPro Recovery. The first vehicle was delivered within 19 days, and 390 more were delivered in three-and-a-half months, he recalled.

“That’s an example of the speed and responsiveness” that Navis-tar can bring to bear, he continued. “So we could build up to 2,000 [JLTVs] per month, if needed, if there were any national emergency. We would use the Navistar facilities that currently build more than 100,000 trucks a year commercially. If there was an immediate need for many of these, we could produce them.”

Further, Navistar has developed other vehicles ahead of the mili-tary issuing a request for proposals, and in four cases the Pentagon later has found those vehicles meet new requirements and procured them. “Every one of these was developed by Navistar ahead of a requirement, including the Saratoga,” Luther stated.

The MXT chassis was introduced by Navistar in the early 2000s and that chassis has now been replaced by the Terrastar, which is half a weight class lower than the MXT. “It’s from the Terrastar that we leveraged the Saratoga,” he continued. “So the Saratoga ends up being a lighter vehicle than the MXT, but it’s because it’s a half class lighter chassis we started with, and then we’ve also added significant survivability expertise into the Saratoga.”

The Lockheed Martin JLTV at speed. [Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin]

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One reason the Saratoga is relatively light is that it uses a hybrid unibody construction, where the body parts are bonded together at the factory, rather than using body-on-frame construction. That omits the frame, saving substantial weight, he explained. Internally, the Saratoga that is specifically designed for the JLTV program is referred to as the Saratoga J. “From the Saratoga to what we call the Saratoga J, we decreased the weight to meet the Army’s requirement, we added the digital backbone. We included the power generation capability [and] you have a JLTV,” he noted.

Another plus for Navistar is that it isn’t solely a defense contrac-tor, he explained, but rather has tremendous production capacity turning out civilian trucks, experience that can benefit military vehicles because design and development work already has been performed at no cost to the military.

“A lot of the work [was done already] if you consider that 80 per-cent of the Saratoga other than the survivability was already proven in the Terrastar,” he recounted. “We just lifted that into the product. So we had a tremendous running start to develop the Saratoga. That in part is why it seems like it came so fast.”

However, the Saratoga had to be a military vehicle able to pro-tect combatants in a war zone. “Number one was the survivability of the MRAP,” he said. “We knew that was the entry ticket into any war zone. You had to have that survivability. So we had a team that worked on upgrading very lightweight survivability.”

The result is that the Saratoga can take a hard hit from the enemy while still protecting troops. “We’ve done significant model-ing and simulation based on what we learned from our MAXXPro production and design,” he continued. “And we included that to make a very highly protected lightweight body.” At the same time, the Saratoga had to be able to travel off road, without brutally pound-ing occupants in a rough ride.

“Number two is mobility,” he said. “So this is an independent suspension vehicle. We worked with, again, proven components from industry.”

That’s two JLTV requirements that have been met squarely. Next is the matter of the vehicle price. “We looked at the price point we wanted to offer for Saratoga,” he stated. “It’s no secret. We offered it at $250,000” for the base Saratoga, before modifications to make it the Saratoga J were offered for the JLTV. “We wanted to come in right

at that point. And really, when you design a vehicle, you have to begin with the target price point that you want to end up with. So then you can specify the different 2,000 components that make up a truck and hit that price point at the end.”

With the competition continuing, he declined to say exactly what sticker price Navistar placed on the Saratoga J JLTV candidate, but he added that “it’s very close to the [base] Saratoga.”

Finally, the Saratoga J combines a tough truck able to take a hit with light weight that means it can be swiftly hauled to the fight. In considering the JLTV transportability requirement, “the Saratoga was built to be carried under the CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters as well as inside the C-130,” he said. “So within 30 hours, the Saratoga could be delivered effectively anywhere on the planet.”

And the Saratoga already comes with the backing of the Navistar worldwide logistics supply chain in place now, he concluded.

oshkosh defense

Given that some military vehicles pound occupants with such rough rides that some personnel suffer injuries, it is critical that the JLTV be able to avoid IEDs by going off road in rough terrain and still deliver a smooth ride. Here, Oshkosh Defense comes through with stellar performance, according to John Bryant, vice president and general manager, joint and Marine Corps programs, and Rob Mes-sina, vice president for defense engineering, with Oshkosh Defense.

The Oshkosh proposal for JLTV is the L-ATV, the light combat tactical-all terrain vehicle. Bryant said the secret of success in provid-ing a safe and comfortable off-road ride lies underneath the L-ATV, in the Oshkosh TAK-4i independent suspension system.

“It really provides the next leap-ahead for protected mobility for the modern battlefield,” Bryant said. “Our ops guys, our engineers, took a whole-systems approach to the challenge of packing tremen-dous mobility, tremendous protection, into a vehicle of a much smaller size than has ever had this type of capability before,” while ensuring that the final vehicle will have a modest price tag.

“From the ground up, our vehicle is equipped with our next-gen-eration TAK-4i independent suspension system,” a newly developed underpinning for the vehicle. “That suspension system expands on the success of our proven TAK-4 system,” he explained. The TAK-4

The L-ATV rolls off a C-130. [Photo courtesy of Oshkosh Defense]

The Saratoga. [Photo courtesy of Navistar]


system has been used on more than 20,000 military vehicles already, but “the TAK-4i takes off-road mobility and ride quality to the next level,” he continued.

Here’s how it works: The TAK-4i delivers 20 inches of inde-pendent wheel travel, and that’s about 25 percent more than other vehicles that are fielded with the military, according to Bryant. That means the TAK-4i “provides superior off-road mobility in terms of ride quality at high speed in harsh and difficult terrain,” he related. “With this suspension system, the vehicle occupants can go places where light vehicles have never been able to go before. They can go there faster, and they can do it without [warriors] getting beat up in the vehicle.”

The smoother ride is good not only for occupants, but also for the gear on the JLTV, he explained. “All the equipment in the vehicle stays protected from all the forces that are impacted on difficult terrain.”

Then there is the driving force that propels the L-ATV, “a state-of-the-art power train, a proven, modern engine that delivers more than enough power for the JLTV application,” he related.

And for a further bonus, “We’ve developed an optional propulse diesel electric power train,” he stressed. “We’ve proven that. We’ve matured it, proven it, tested it. So as an option, we can combine that same level of off-road mobility and power with the ability to provide between 30 and 70 kW of military grade power.” While the engine is muscular, it also “provides tremendous fuel efficiency,” Bryant said.

As for protecting troops from IEDs, Oshkosh knows what it is doing, because it already has created vehicles that can let warfight-ers walk away from an enemy weapons blast, Bryant said. The L-ATV “protection package directly leverages our experience on our M-ATV program, where we have more than 8,500 vehicles provided to the military already,” he observed. “Our M-ATV is the vehicle that’s per-forming the mission most closely related to what the joint light tacti-cal vehicle will perform, [and] that vehicle is performing in theater right now, protecting our warfighters as we speak.”

Military personnel wind up winners, because “we were able to directly leverage the protection technologies from our M-ATV, and take them to the next step” on the L-ATV, he said.

Protection can be tailored to the expected threat level in impend-ing missions, Bryant explained. “Oshkosh has developed a suite of protection kits for our L-ATV,” he noted. “In fact, we have a range of

kits that’s greater than required by the JLTV program. Depending on the operational environment that’s faced by the warfighter, we offer the ability to tailor your protection level to particular threats. We offer the ability to tailor the protection level for light weight, for maximum protection, for protection against different types of threats, as opposed to other threats—really, to allow them flexibility for the operational commander on the ground.”

The protection package could be even further tailored to particu-lar types of IED threats, to emphasize protection against the kinetic energy threats, including various levels of under-body threats, he stated. Yet even with various armor kits in place, the L-ATV will still maintain its very light weight and high fuel efficiency configuration.

“Our suspension and drive train solution that we provide on our L-ATV can carry any combination of our protection kits,” avoiding problems that plagued HMMWVs a decade ago when they were up-armed. “We can provide that MRAP level of protection, that tremen-dous kinetic energy protection, and at the same time we can provide off-road mobility that’s really never been achieved in a vehicle like this,” Bryant concluded. O



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The L-ATV rolls over open terrain. [Photo courtesy of Oshkosh Defense]


JLTV SystemsWhile there is no knowing all the future threats that will be

devised by enemies ranging from terrorists up to major nations, one thing is known: The joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV) will be able to counter those dangers.

Even as the Army and Marine Corps comb through volu-minous proposal documents submitted by six companies and their teams, each hoping to be chosen to build the next major military transport platform, it is clear that the JLTV will be able to handle all of the systems currently developed to aid warfighters. More importantly, though, the JLTV will be highly adaptable so that it can host systems not even envisioned yet, to counter threats not yet known.

That was the picture that emerged from interviews with leaders of the JLTV programs in the six companies: AM General, BAE Systems, General Tactical Vehicles, Lockheed Martin, Navistar and Oshkosh Defense.

While the JLTV will be in a sense the successor to the HMMWV of Iraq and the Jeep of Korea and World War II, the JLTV will boast systems that warriors of decades past would envy.

With no modification, as a given, the JLTV will be built to accept and support communications systems such as JTRS radios, VHF radios, SATCOM radios, intercoms, situational awareness aids, shot spotter gear, command and control assets, and weapons systems such as the common remotely operated weapon system that per-mits a gunner to lay down fire while safely encapsulated inside the vehicle.

The JLTV also will be designed to support IED detection systems, fire extinguishing/suppression systems for the crew cabin and for the fuel tank and tires, up-armoring kits and more. This means that it won’t cost the military a fortune every time a new system is invented and must be provided to JLTV users, making the vehicle a perfect plug and play platform.

There are myriad firms ready to supply a wide array of systems to the JLTV, and here we look at some of the offerings.

Master Pull: For some personnel, there is a Murphy’s Law of vehicle recovery: The rate of enemy fire increases in direct propor-tion to the number of convoy vehicles stuck.

Master Pull is the maker of the strongest winch lines available, according to the company. The SuperlineXD offers high strength and versatility.

Master Pull products have been a mainstay on the MRAP family of vehicles and are included as basic items of issue on

SOCOM’s RG31, RG33 and M-ATV. When armored platforms are stuck, warfighters need equipment that is safe, simple to use, versatile and effective. The product line of Full Duty Cycle Recovery Gear includes strong winch lines and extensions, tac-

tically efficient kinetic systems, versatile flat towing equip-ment, and the strongest and lightest swing blocks in

the industry. All the gear is intended for constant use in extreme conditions. Master Pull is built to meet

mission requirements and then exhaustively tested.

Meggitt Defense Systems: JLTV thermal management solutions are emerging today

for a more electronic battlefield tomor-row. The JLTV will have at least four times the electronics and will require three times the power generation of the

original HMMWV introduced a quarter of a century ago.

The planned and future electronic load, along with the power required to

support it, translates into a lot of heat that if not balanced and managed can have a serious effect on vehicle, crew and mission success.

The primary and secondary cooling systems required to meet these challenges will also draw power, generate heat, take up space and add weight, making thermal management a critical design consideration for tactical vehicles in the next quarter century.

Meggitt Defense Systems Inc. (MDSI) is a leader in develop-ment of rugged affordable thermal management solutions for combat platforms. MDSI offers extensive experience in design-ing and producing over 1,900 battle-tested compact thermal management systems. Developing innovative power generation systems for combat platforms like the M1A2 makes MDSI an important supplier and partner for the JLTV program, according to the company.

MDSI sees the warfighter as the most critical element within the JLTV system. In order to provide increased protection inside and outside the vehicle, MDSI has teamed with Rini Technolo-gies to develop an ultra-portable cooling system for the warf-ighter with a seamless interface to the vehicle and soldier. This unit can be quickly disconnected for the dismounted soldier to provide cooling in any extreme environments inside or outside the vehicle.

MDSI is providing the JLTV Program with innovative thermally efficient subsystems and components for the platform and the soldiers it carries. The firm has an extensive portfolio of lightweight

from electrical power to tires, Better JltV systems serVe warriors.By daVe ahearn

gct editor

Master Pull lines. [Photo courtesy of Master Pull]


rugged thermal solutions battle tested for, and designed to meet the challenge of, a more electronic and thermally challenged battlefield today and tomorrow.

Michelin: The Michelin XZL2 would fit perfectly with the JLTV, the company noted. Designed specifically to meet the require-ments of speed, load and mobility for the joint light tactical vehicle, Michelin is introducing the next generation of tires for demanding military applications. The XZL2 features a redesigned tread pattern that offers greater speed capabilities and improved

tread life over a wide range of terrains while retaining the legacy of its highly suc-cessful XZL used on the HET, HMMET, PLS, MTVR and almost all of the MRAP vehicles.

Lower ground contact pressure in the XZL2 delivers this performance with-out sacrificing off-road capabilities and toughness for the most demanding appli-cations. The XZL2 exceeds expectations in terms of speed capability and mileage. The tire incorporates the best features of

the combat proven XZL tire and delivers the enhanced performance customers will

demand on future combat vehicles such as the JLTV.

Precision Remotes: The Precision Remotes ultra-light remote weapon station, T360, weighs 75 pounds (without weapon and ammunition), has a low profile (small cube), and runs on 24 VDC. Should the vehicle become disabled, the T360 can be read-ily moved to another vehicle without the use of cranes or special tools. The T360 fits in the NATO standard 2.5-inch ring mount.

To protect warriors, the remote weapon station allows the warfighter to stay within the vehicle while providing return fire.

Sanmina-SCI (SCI): The company has developed an advanced tactical networking intercommunications system that leverages an extensive heritage operating in tactical operation centers (TOC) as well as other command post and tactical vehicle platforms. Sanmina has taken that powerful capability set, refined it and developed TOCNET-V, a system designed specifically to address the complex operational requirements, missions and environments of emerging tactical vehicle platforms.

TOCNET-V combines complex and advanced networking com-munications into an intuitive, modular family that is scalable to the platform mission/variant.

These are some of the capabilities inherent in TOCNET: instant-on, radio relay and crossbanding, voice over internet pro-tocol, voice conferencing, call manager interoperability, deeply integrated radio remote control, management and configuration, low latency, high fidelity audio and headset agnostic.

Among some other features, this is tailored to the crew posi-tion. It can unicast or multicast, it features multiple enclave design, and more. JLTV will bring together disparate and complex network assets at the tactical operating level and TOCNET-V is the

only tactical ICS that can address all of these requirements in a proven system today, according to the company.

SCI has developed an NSA certified, Type-I (Top Secret and below), full-duplex wireless system that is fully integrated with TOCNET-V, exceeding the operational requirements originally laid out by the Mounted Soldier System program. This full-duplex wireless system allows seamless operation as the operator mounts and dismounts, extending the full ICS capabilities to the warfighter even when separated from the vehicle. This capability, used in conjunction with the SCI-developed Android HMI, ensures the soldier is always within reach of critical assets, maintaining full capability during dismounted operations.

TOCNET-V serves as a force multiplier, assuring critical communications in a high op tempo battle space, enhancing soldier safety by ensuring access to any networked asset instantly and reliably. Warfighter needs evolve continuously, as the mission is ever changing and therefore requires a system that can evolve in lockstep while ensuring the fundamental networking ICS functions are always available, reliably and instantly. TOCNET-V is a fully software-defined system and SCI’s continuous improvement plan continues to offer feature upgrades to customers at no additional cost, ensuring a long-term value to the warfighter and acquisition community. TOCNET-V includes industry-leading features, reducing the strain on the logistics tail, lowering life cycle acquisition costs, but most importantly, ensuring that the system is always available to the warfighters as they perform their critical missions. TOCNET-V is a highly scalable and affordable, battle proven, TRL-9 tactical networking intercommunications system.

Tactical & Survival Specialties Inc. (TSSi): The company lists itself as the oldest privately held tactical equipment company in the United States. TSSi has designed an innovative solution for medical aid in mobile environments. The Vehicle Assault Medical Platform, or VAMP, is fully adjustable to fit most vehicle seats, including several JLTVs, forms to the seat, and is padded for comfort. The VAMP is fully integrated with the necessary medical equipment to be used in emergency medical situations.

A modified version of TSSi’s M-9 Assault Medical Backpack attaches to the platform using an integrated strap system with quick release capabilities. This allows for dismounted opera-tions away from the vehicle and allows the user to attach the pack to their load-bearing vest or carry over the shoulder with pack straps. The mesh zip-pered pouches within the M-9 are clearly labeled to identify the type of injury that can be treated. Each pouch is attached

The Michelin XZL2. [Photo courtesy of Michelin]

The Vehicle Assault Medical Platform. [Photo courtesy of TSSi]


with hook and loop Velcro as well as a pull-tab for easy removal, even with gloved hands. The VAMP is being introduced as part of TSSi’s TACOPS brand of unique products.

The platform can also be used without the modified M-9 as a modular platform for attaching MOLLE pouches already in the user’s load out when medical support is not required. The plat-form can be used as an assault panel, allowing the user to quickly pull magazines, flash bangs, frags and smoke from the seatback platform to use or replenish their supplies during sustained opera-tions. In a hurried situation, with one pull the user can separate the whole panel and take it.

The VAMP, developed per the request of an end-user looking for more versatility during vehicle operations, serves the warfighter’s needs by providing emergency medical aid in a mobile environ-ment with a streamlined, easy-to-use pack system, according to TSSi.

GE: The JLTV program aims to build a modern, techno-logically advanced military vehicle with a relatively tight SWaP-C [size, weight, power and cooling] budget. New design methodolo-gies, adopting a modular, open architecture approach to systems design, will be pivotal in making this program successful. The recently released Victory specifications, built on a common network-based infrastructure, will enable this.

Its focus on SWaP recognizes that space, weight and power are at a premium in virtually every deployed environment: The military electronics architecture of the future must be highly integrated, eliminating unnecessary duplication.

Eliminating duplication also impacts budget. To contain what could otherwise be unaffordable cost, Victory envisages an inte-grated system, using a common bus that shares data, connecting the source of the data to the subsystems that need it—and thus eliminating expensive replication.

At the heart of the Victory architecture, though, is the network. GE has teamed with Juniper Networks—a leader in development of high performance, highly secure network appli-ances—to develop the RTR8GE, a router that takes advantage of GE’s expertise in developing rugged embedded computing solu-tions capable of being deployed in the harshest environments.

Not only is the RTR8GE powerful, secure and robust, but it is integrated into an enclosure that is optimized for space, weight and power. It provides such facilities as intrusion prevention and detection, firewalls, packet inspection, authentication and access

control as well as anti-tamper protection and information-

assurance technologies that recognize the sen-sitive nature of the data it is designed to trans-port.

As a new vehicle design, JLTV is uniquely positioned to leverage the Victory architecture. As a member of the Vic-tory initiative and with a

long history of developing open architecture COTS solutions, GE is well positioned to help contractors build a cost-effective, SWaP-optimized vehicle compute and communications platform.

Skydex: Skydex manufactures an industry leading line of mil-itary vehicle convoy decking that covers a wide range of perfor-mance capabilities, according to the company. With the extended product line, the firm works with customers to understand their requirements and specs to engineer the best solution for their particular vehicle program.

The highest performance Skydex solution is the new e-Max technology, which absorbs roughly double the energy in the same space as the original twin-hemisphere technology, using less material. Skydex developed the product in half-inch layers so it can be stacked to scale the amount of absorption required to the application.

The firm’s other new product utilizes a new geometry, new traction surface and new manufacturing techniques to create a cost-sensitive product for budget constraints. That new product absorbs impact efficiently for its thickness and weight, but does not sacrifice durability to do so. It is made from the same tough family of engineering-grade resins, TPU, as the original twin-hemisphere and e-Max products.

At Skydex, everything is developed and manufactured with the warrior in mind, according to the company. To that end, Skydex engineers products from the beginning to meet or exceed high military standards across all branches. Skydex stated that its products save lives, and by continuing to exceed standards, more troops will come home.

Continental: All too often manufacturers fall into the trap of using all the same vendors every time, according to tire maker Continental. In this challenging and competitive market, if you’re not considering all your options, you need to be aware that your competition is, according to Continental, which notes that every dollar and pound saved will make a difference when it’s time to award contracts. Continental is the fourth-largest automotive supplier in the world and the oldest of the major tire manufacturers, and terms itself the other option.

Warfighters deserve the best and the best isn’t found by sole-sourcing tires from the usual manufacturer, the company stated. For JLTV, Continen-tal is offering a lighter, quieter, cost competitive option. Continental tires routinely return top results in tests in every industry that Continental com-petes in, and the firm stated that it is looking forward to doing the same for the military. O


for related stories at www.gct-kmi.com.The RTR8GE. [Photo courtesy of GE]

The Continental tire. [Photo courtesy of Continental]


The Army-Marine Corps joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV) will be a wheeled wonder, proving that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you need to execute a different mobile mission.

While the JLTV will be able to perform many different missions, this versatile vehicle will be produced in two major versions and dif-ferent sub-variants of those major versions. Having just two major versions reduces expenses, confusion, supply chain requirements and other operating outlays. Commonality cuts costs.

A four-door version of the JLTV will be called the general purpose vehicle, and there will be a two-seat version called the utility vehicle.

That general purpose vehicle can be fitted out as a heavy gun car-rier, or as a close combat weapons carrier. It could, for example, tow a howitzer. With the utility vehicle—similar to a pickup truck—there is a cargo bed in back, so the utility vehicle can perform a logistics and resupply function.

But the JLTV also can perform a range of other missions, thanks to its ability to receive various shelters over the cargo bed. For example, the utility vehicle with one shelter can become an ambulance, fitted with litters to evacuate casualties from the battlefield. In all, there are

six or seven types of shelters, so the JLTV can perform a multiplicity of missions.

In one variant, the JLTV is an armored personnel carrier. But another JLTV may be bristling with a heavy .50 caliber machine gun.

Another way that the JLTV can offer versatility is in armoring protection, where modular kits can be applied to the vehicle when a mission will traverse highly hostile territory, rife with terrorists plant-ing IEDs. Or the JLTV can be down-armored, removing kits when missions will occur in low-threat areas.

For further protection, the JLTV will have run-flat tires, so if the enemy shoots the tires, the vehicle isn’t forced to stop and become a sitting duck target for attackers.

So the military, for a modest price of $250,000 or so for the base vehicle, will gain the benefit of multiple different types of vehicles that can take the pounding of enemy IEDs, go off-road without a punishing, jarring ride, and move out smartly when needed. In all, it adds up to an entire set of vehicles with high value at an affordable cost—precisely what Congress is demanding in an era of tight defense budgets. O

JLTV Variations Versatile Vehicle can Be anything from amBulance to gun carrier.

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AMETEK11431 Half Page Ad_AMETEK11431 - Ground Combat Tech 5/9/12 8:56 AM Page 1

By daVe ahearn, gct editor


Compiled by KMi Media Group staff

Army Makes Downselect for Next-Gen Sniper Scope Technology

L-3 Integrated Optical Systems announced it has been selected

by the U.S. Army for the next phase of the Integrated Ballistic Reticle

System (IBRS) development program.

The IBRS is being developed as a sniper and designated marksman

sight for extended ranges. The IBRS sight will allow snipers to

quickly and accurately acquire targets by using a digital ballistic fire

control solution to project an electronic reticle in their line of sight. By

minimizing manual adjustments, the IBRS allows faster engagement,

greater accuracy and less training than current sniper solutions.

“Ours is the future of sniper sights, allowing for greater ranges and

reduced training requirements,” said Dave Wessing, vice president and

general manager of L-3 Integrated Optical Systems’ Pittsburgh facility.

“The U.S. Army’s dedication to the IBRS program will enhance the

efficiency and effectiveness of snipers and designated marksmen at

all ranges.”

L-3 Integrated Optical Systems offers broad electro-optical

products for space, air, sea and ground needs. The

company’s product portfolio includes a full range

of stabilized platforms, beam directors and

laser communications terminals, fire control

solutions, precision optics, large diameter

telescopes, integrated optical sights,

space-based and airborne

optical systems, and ground

test equipment.

INNOVATIONS

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Control: Wired or wireless remote controlled

Maneuverability: 370 degrees horizontal rotation (pan) and 135

degrees vertical elevation/depression (tilt).

Mounting: Permanent or portable mounting

Light Structure: 10 high flux LEDs, P-Vex lens technology, 200,000

candelas, 42 watts, eight degree beam angle

Materials: Anodized aluminum heat sink with liquid powder-cast

finish

Power Requirements: 12.8 volts DC Maximum Current Draw: 3.5

amps/ 24 volt system

also available

Unit dimensions:

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inches, 4 pounds

Team to Study How Heavy Loads Affect Warriors

A team of kinesiology

researchers led by Richard Van

Emmerik at the University of

Massachusetts Amherst recently

received a 2.5-year, $975,000 grant

through the Navy Health Research

Center in the Department of

Defense to study how the average

100-pound equipment load

carried by soldiers, which can be

even heavier in some missions,

affects their survivability, likelihood

of injury and ability to carry out

missions.

“Load is not a new issue for

field commanders to consider,”

said Van Emmerik, who is director

of UMass Amherst’s Sensory-

Motor Control Laboratory. “But

while past studies typically focused

on how load affects gait and the

lower body, we will for the first time

look at how the upper body, trunk

and head coordinate in a soldier

who is burdened by a heavy load,

which is a fundamentally different

and a more complex situation.”

Doctoral candidate

Christopher Palmer, an Army

employee who is an expert

in motor control and military

performance and a key member

of Van Emmerik’s team, added,

“To us, gait is just the beginning.

We’ll introduce a visual search

task and track the coordination of

upper body, postural control and

visual acuity. No study has yet

added all these, plus other factors,

together in a realistic way to look

at how load affects the soldier’s

ability to perceive threats, his or

her operational effectiveness and

survivability in combat.”

Findings will also have

practical significance for

firefighters, police, rescue workers

and others who must wear

helmets, body armor, backpacks

or other equipment while carrying

out their duties.

The kinesiology research

team, which includes doctoral

students Mike Busa and Luis

Rosado, with post-doctoral

fellows Darnell Simon and Jongil

Lim, will recruit highly trained

infantrymen as laboratory subjects

who will be tested with no load as

well as while carrying a variety

of loads between 70 and 120

pounds for the studies.

Van Emmerik noted,

“Biomechanics has taught us a lot

over the past 30 years about load

and locomotion, stamina, oxygen

use, energy use and so on. We’ll

expand to look at whether load

affects reaction time, visual

attention to critical details and the

ability to discriminate friend or foe.

We’ll set up some fairly realistic

tasks such as having a soldier

jump off the back of a truck, scan

an area, and then immediately hit

targets in a marksmanship test.”


William Taylor currently serves as the Program Executive Offi-cer Land Systems Marine Corps (PEO LS). PEO LS is the assistant secretary of the Navy for research development and acquisition’s primary organization for the focus of Acquisition Management expertise on major Marine Corps programs.

A veteran Marine helicopter pilot with nearly 5,000 flight hours, Taylor’s operational experiences include combat operations in Bei-rut, Lebanon, missions in Cambodia in support of Joint Task Force Full Accounting, and presidential support while a Marine One Pilot assigned to Marine Helicopter Squadron One.

Among his numerous acquisition assignments while a pro-gram manager, he successfully led the CH-46 Sea Knight and V-22 Osprey programs prior to his selection as the Marine Corps’ first-ever Program Executive Officer Land Systems in January 2007. He retired from active duty on September1, 2008, with 29 years of service, and returned to the helm of PEO LS upon his appointment to the Senior Executive Service in December 2008.

A native of Edison, N.J., Taylor graduated from Rutgers Univer-sity and later earned a Master of Science degree in defense systems acquisition management at the Naval Postgraduate School, Mon-terey, Calif.

His personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two gold stars, the Meritorious Ser-vice Medal, two Strike Flight Air Medals, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.

Q: How has the PEO Land Systems portfolio changed over the past year?

A: PEO Land Systems now manages the Marine Corps’ entire amphibious portfolio to include Assault Amphibious Vehicle [AAV], which transferred over to the PEO last August; an analysis of alter-natives is underway on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle program through the summer of 2012 and the Marine Personnel Carrier transferred to our Program Manager for Advanced Amphibious Assault, who is managing all three efforts.

Last fall, there was a realignment of Motor Transportation from Marine Corps Systems Command to the PEO. We are focusing on portfolio transition and program realignments to better align programs within the same domain. Our vehicles are now aligned into light, medium/heavy and the aforementioned amphibious categories.

In the light category is: the high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle [HMMWV], joint light tactical vehicle [JLTV] and the inter-nally transportable vehicle.

In the medium/heavy category is: the medium tactical vehicle replacement [MTVR] and logistics vehicle systems replacement [LVSR], the legacy logistics vehicle systems and the P-19 fire truck.

I have already covered the amphibious vehicles. We are also managing the corresponding trailers with their

prime movers. The MTVR trailer cargo is at Milestone C, as is the flatrack refueler container.

Q: What’s happening with the JLTV Program?

A: The JLTV Program is currently in source selection. We can expect up to three contract awards during the summer for the engineering manufacturing and development [EMD] phase of the program for the delivery of 22 prototype vehicles. The EMD phase was shortened from 48 months to 33 months to provide greater affordability.

Q: Are you concerned about the affordability of the JLTV Pro-gram?

A: The JLTV program is well structured to maintain the com-petitive pressure that will constrain cost growth throughout the upcoming EMD phase and carry up to three vendors in a competi-tive environment all the way into low rate initial production. In

Land Systems LeaderBetter Rides in Store for Warfighters as Vehicle Programs Progress

Q&AQ&AWilliam E. Taylor

PEO Land SystemsMarine Corps


addition, the current acquisition strategy allows for vendors who are not selected for EMD contracts or who elect not to compete in the first phase to submit vehicles into test, consistent with our current schedule for even broader competition during the LRIP downselect.

Q: Can you tell us anything about the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle Sustainment Modification Line Program?

A: Program Manager, Light Tactical Vehicles has initiated an effort to identify the best current component solutions available via a documented systems engineering trade study approach that addresses known failures. This process will be informed by the HMMWV work performed by various activities over the last several years. The HMMWV Sustainment Modification Line acquisition strategy is broken down into six phases:

Phase 0 & I: Nevada Auto Test Center [NATC] has been contracted to conduct concept exploration and a trade study to develop several affordable component designs to counteract known failures in the fully armored HMMWV Expanded Capacity Vehicles. There are two technical reviews during these phases which must be successfully completed with government approval to enter later phases.

Phase II: PM Office [PMO] plans to contract with NATC to build and integrate up to four kit concept prototypes based upon provided performance priorities and affordability targets, while providing a range of potential solutions.

Phase III: PMO plans to contract with NATC to test and evalu-ate the concepts developed.

Phase IV: PMO plans to contract with NATC to develop a tech-nical data package [TDP] based on the government determination of the optimal solution. The type of TDP will depend on the kit installation competitive strategy solution determined.

Phase V: PMO plans to compete government depots and commercial activities for the installation and integration of the modification kits on IROAN [inspect and repair only as necessary] HMMWVs, to include all required logistic support. Upon contract award and LRIP build, the government will conduct production verification testing, followed by a full rate production decision for the modification of a desired 1,000 vehicles per year for eight years.

Q: What about other programs in the PEO Portfolio?

A: In February of this year, we achieved initial operational capabil-ity and fielded the first phase of the Common Aviation Command and Control System at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Our Ground Air Task Oriented Radar program will be undergoing developmental testing this summer. We have a performance based logistics effort under-way with our lightweight 155 howitzer program as well as with the MTVR program.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

A: I expect a continued sharp focus on affordability going forward. We are pursuing several initiatives in the area of operations and support to reduce costs. I mentioned the PBL for LW155 and MTVR, but we are also looking at what we can do in the area of sustain-ment for the AAV and LVSR. O

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With defense funding increasingly constrained following the mili-tary drawdown in Iraq, corrosion continues to be a significant program with military vehicles, both on the ground and in the air, proving that Neil Young’s song “Rust Never Sleeps,” may have some truth to it.

While costs to repair corrosion can be hard to estimate across the uniformed services, they have clearly grabbed the attention of military leaders. In 2010, U.S. Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro testified during a House Oversight and Government Reform Com-mittee hearing that DoD spends $22.9 billion each year on corrosion. The military spends money fighting rusting, pitting, calcium or other mineral buildup, degradation from exposure to ultraviolet light, mold, mildew and other organic decay that if left unchecked, can degrade the readiness and safety of equipment and facilities and can result in substantial, sometimes avoidable costs.

Mike Bunnell, president of Can-Am Engineered Products of Livonia, Mich., provides a water-based paint for military equipment to battle corrosion. The high-volume, low-pressure spray signifi-cantly reduces volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from high-volume, high-pressure sprays, according to Bunnell. The downside to using the more environmentally-friendly, water-based paint is that it can take six to 12 hours for a single coat to dry. By contrast, it can take five to six hours for a solvent-based paint to dry.

To reduce the production cycles, Can-Am Engineered Products sprays 600 gallons of water on a vehicle for an hour after painting it. “We bake it for 50 minutes” in 190-degree temperatures in the company’s stainless steel booth, Bunnell said, with the heat treatments coming before and after the water spray.

armed serVices pay huge price for corrosion; preVention is key.By william murray

gct correspondent


Can-Am Engineered Products can cut the drying and curing time from as much as 12 hours to roughly 90 minutes, an 85 percent savings in time, and still pass all military requirements through its $900,000 turbine-powered liquid spray technology process. Bunnell said the company’s approach reduces or eliminates VOC and hazard-ous air pollutant emissions. Can-Am Engineered Products claims drastically improved transfer efficiency over other liquid application technologies.

It’s fully cured following the 90-minute treatment, Bunnell said. Can-Am Engineered Products can save as much as 40 percent in material usage and labor costs in military applications. It uses less than nine pounds per square inch air pressure in spraying chemical agent resistant coating (CARC).

After about 30 years in the finishing industry, Bunnell, an engi-neer, began working with Tactical Army Command more than two years ago to provide a quicker way to dry and cure water-borne CARC paint used by the military to protect its vehicles from corrosion and chemical attack. “We don’t take any coatings off,” he said. In addition to tanks, Bunnell sees a lot of potential in water-based paint coatings for military fleet trucks.

With the Iraq War ended, the U.S. military is increasingly refur-bishing ground and aerial vehicles and then storing them outdoors for as long as two years before they are redeployed, according to Jim Hiller, senior vice president with Protective Packaging Corp., a manufacturer of flexible packaging supplies that prevent corrosion. The company also prevents weapons systems from developing static

charges. Outdoors, ground and aerial vehicles are subjected to wear and tear, which can include ultra violet rays, birds, bugs and rats, according to Hiller.

“Long-term outdoor storage is the big thing we’re seeing,” Hiller said. Based in Carrollton, Texas, Protective Packaging has been in business since 1995 and sells to the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as defense contractors.

Among its products and services, Protective Packaging sells moisture barrier bags, which have desiccants for absorbing mois-ture and protecting equipment in “pristine condition,” Hiller said. Protective Packaging also sells volatile corrosion inhibitor products. Company officials are also seeing the U.S. military use electronics and avionics on smaller form factors in aircraft, and these machines are also subject to corrosion and static charges.

Protective Packaging usually demonstrates to its military cus-tomers how to store the first three or four pieces of equipment in moisture barrier bags and then after charging for this service, mili-tary customers pay about $2,000 per moisture barrier bags that they can use on their own. Refurbishment, by contrast, can cost tens of thousands of dollars, according to Hiller.

“Corrosion is a very significant problem,” said Raymond Haddad, director of Chinook fleet support with Boeing in Philadelphia. “Pre-ventative treatments are needed.”

Continuing a relationship with the Army that began more than 50 years ago, Boeing supports about 800 Chinook helicopters worldwide. This includes about 500 Army and Special Operations


Command Chinooks, used for war fighting and humanitarian missions, for search and rescue and combat assault, aircraft capable of carrying heavy loads both internally and externally. In May 2011, Boeing won a $23.7 million Army contract for modifications to the Chinook fleet.

“We’ve seen a significant improvement in materials and coat-ings in the last four to five years,” Haddad said. Boeing, which performs its Chinook rotorcraft work in Huntsville, Ala., and its modification work at the Millville Modifica-tion Center in New Jersey, has also made design improvements as a result of its 50 years working on the Chinook since the first flight of the heli-copter, including adding a honeycomb structure in machine frame areas susceptible to corrosion and changing floor panel supports to aluminum. The current air frame for the Chinook was first developed in the 1960s, and the Army is now in the process of replacing the air frame.

The primary corrosion challenges that Chinook helicopters experience come from high humid-ity, condensation, temperature swings and human contact. Given the Army’s plans to use the Chinooks past 2030, protecting against corrosion is very important. “The feedback we’ve gotten on our latest improvements is that there’s high mission readiness and reduced maintenance [on the Chinooks],” Haddad said.

The CH-47F helicopter, used by the Army, has an extensive corrosion prevention and control program, according to Had-dad. “Our customers take a lot of actions to minimize corrosion,” he said. The CH-47G helicopter, used by the Special Operations Command, uses special inspections to identify and fix corrosion. “It’s tailored to where their aircraft operates,” Haddad said of the inspections. Despite the increased importance of corrosion to the military, only a few national universities offer corrosion and corro-sion control courses, provided through engineering departments.

While corrosion can be a significant problem anywhere, the military uses a more accelerated approach in coastal regions, since those areas are more humid and have more salt in the air. Boeing, in addition, has added additional drain holes to the Chinook, after working with Army and Special Operations officials to identify wet areas on the surface of the helicopter. “We’ve added sealant in selective areas,” Haddad said.

At the same time, Marty Efird, chief executive officer of United Protective Technologies of Locust, N.C., is seeing an increase in interest in the company’s micron-thin film coating, which is even thinner than human hair and not perceptive to human sight. In operation since 2002, the company has worked with the Army, Naval Air Systems Command and U.S. Strategic Operations Com-mand, producing windscreens to protect the Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook military helicopters. UPT uses a deposition chamber process in applying diamond-like carbon micron-thin film coating to equipment.

“They can protect very sensitive equipment with thin coating,” Efird said. “Most of our coating is a single micron.” He’s seeing the military use sensors for corrosion and erosion protection, and his company has developed a specialty in replacing military helicopter windscreens. Metallic surfaces are durable and can handle years of exposure to severe environmental conditions like deserts and mountains without failure. By comparison, though, windscreens

are fragile and require replacement to maintain safe operating conditions for pilots and passengers.

Efird’s company, UPT, has developed exterior SP3EC erosion resistant coatings for the AH-64 Apache Pilot Night Vision System and Target Acquisition Designation System windows. UPT tries to produce a durable, non-hazardous broadband anti-reflective coating to replace the current Thorium (IV) Fluoride coating used on the interior surface of these windows. UPT has also worked with Oak

Ridge Laboratories to develop a spray-on superhy-drophobic material in powder form, Velox. By forc-ing water and oil from the surface, Velox eliminates liquid contact and related corrosion and fouling.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Florida, Georgia or Afghanistan: we’re fighting erosion,” Efird said, in response to a question about whether there’s much more corrosion that military equipment experiences during deployments. He also added that UPT’s coat-ing services don’t change the tolerance of equipment to the elements. According to UPT, coating reduces friction, is harder, attracts oil and can prevent wear and tear. Sand and debris are particularly corrosive

to military equipment.Efird is part of a larger initiative that is worldwide in scope and

encompasses not just ground and aerial vehicles but also DoD’s infrastructure, including bridges and pipelines. In January, DoD’s Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight produced the fourth of five videos to raise awareness about corrosion, with the primary audi-ence being DoD’s acquisition workforce. The Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight is part of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.

The fourth video, a 25-minute production narrated by actor LeVar Burton, is “Corrosion Comprehension: Operating in a Corro-sive Environment.” The video provides a tour of military bases from Hawaii to Florida and shows the pervasive nature of corrosion. It can take days for inspectors to properly assess a military installation for corrosion.

According to the video, Vandenberg Air Force Base in San Luis Obispo, Calif., has the most corrosive environment of any land-based launch facility in the world, made worse by chemicals in the sand.

The Marines have a particular challenge with corrosion because of the service’s amphibious assault mandate, which means its equip-ment must operate in harsher saltwater environments. As part of this mission, the Marines operate their four main bases in the ocean in California, Hawaii, Japan and North Carolina.

The Army Research Laboratory is the service’s premier coatings and corrosion research and development laboratory, providing fundamental scientific understanding of electrochemistry, corrosion and materials degradation with expertise and capabilities necessary to ensure rapid transition of new materials, pretreatments and coatings technologies.

In a 2004 report, Defense Science Board Task Force officials estimated that DoD could prevent 30 percent of corrosion costs through proper investment in prevention and mitigation of corro-sion during design, manufacture and sustainment. O

Raymond Haddad




RAPID EquIPPING FORCE

Colonel Peter A. Newell began his career as an enlisted armor crewman in the 635th Armor Battalion, Kansas Army National Guard, in December 1980. He served in a variety of positions within the battalion before being commissioned as an armor officer in December 1985. Upon graduation from Kansas State University in May 1986, he entered active duty as an infan-try officer. His initial assignment was with the 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., where he served as a rifle platoon leader, company executive officer, and battalion S1 in the 4th Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. While assigned to the division, he participated in the airborne assault on Torrijos-Tocumen Airport and subsequent combat operations supporting Operation Just Cause in December 1989.

In 1991, he assumed command of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry (Mechanized), 3rd Infantry Division, Vilseck, Germany. In February 1994 he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga. Upon his graduation from the Command and General Staff College in 1997, he was assigned as the Battalion S3, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry (Mechanized), 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. In May 1999, he became the Brigade S3 for 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. In June 2000, he was assigned to the office of the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he served as a senior operations officer in the National Military Command Center.

In June 2003, he assumed command of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division in support of Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. He redeployed the battalion to Vilseck, Germany, in July, and then deployed the battalion to Iraq in February 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. In July 2005, he relinquished command of the bat-talion and was reassigned to Hohenfels, Germany, as the senior infantry maneuver observer controller and subsequently served as the senior brigade observer controller at the Joint Multi-National Readiness Center.

In June 2008, Newell assumed command of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas. The

4th BCT deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom X in May 2009 where the brigade served in southern Iraq as the Army’s proof of principle for the Advise and Assist Brigade concept. In July 2010, he was re-assigned to his current duty as director, U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College with a Master of Science degree in operations and training. He is also a graduate of the Joint Advanced Warfight-ing School, with a Master of Science degree in joint campaign planning and strategy.

His awards and decorations include the Silver Star Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (one Oak Leaf Cluster), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (three Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal (four Oak Leaf Clusters), Joint Service Achievement Medal, and Army Achievement Medal (four Oak Leaf Clusters). He was a part of the National Military Command Center when the center was awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Citation for actions during the global war on terrorism. His former unit, Task Force 2-2, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for actions during Opera-tion Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004. His

Colonel Peter A. NewellDirector

Rapid Equipping Force

Soldier Equipper REF Keeps Combatants at Cutting Edge of Technology

Q&AQ&A



badges include the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (2nd award), Expert Infantryman’s Badge, the Ranger Tab, Master Parachut-ist Badge with Bronze Star Device, and the Pathfinder Badge.

Q: You have moved forward in providing warfighters at the edge with systems to generate power without using huge quantities of fuel, and producing potable water for the force. How well are these systems performing?

A: While the initial feedback has been very positive, true encom-passing support of hybrid energy systems will take time and a full culture change throughout the Army. Our effort has successfully selected best-of-breed solutions and has provided tactical training and equipment support to the warfighters needing it most, but we still must improve our emphasis on educating leaders at the battalion and company level. The hybrid and energy equipment is currently being incorporated into unit operations, so a complete assessment of performance is not yet available.

Q: What new uses in the field do you foresee for solar energy?

A: Solar has enormous potential to support a wide range of energy needs—from charging military-portable batteries to pow-ering 50- to 100-man outposts. Rapid Equipping Force [REF] has issued solar arrays ranging from 60 W soldier power systems to 28 kW arrays to power village stability platforms. The soldier power system is highly expeditionary, while the 28 kW array is intended to remain enduring at a specific location. The effective-ness and success of this initiative is dependent upon education and training.

Q: What advances has REF brought forth in counter-IED sys-tems?

A: The REF bridges the gap between the Army acquisition process and warfighter immediate needs. The REF has intro-duced commercial explosive detectors and handheld metal/mine detectors that provide soldiers with added capabilities and new technologies. Sometimes however, even simple, non-technical items like a lightweight, portable ladder enable a soldier to clear a mine obstacle. The REF has collaborated with the Army acquisition community to deliver ballistic-protection clothing. The REF has partnered to develop lane clearance explosives for dismounted units. We are integrating sensors onto commercial robotic platforms.

Q: What challenges have you overcome to make commercial off-the-shelf [COTS] technologies suitable and useful for mili-tary users?

A: One of the biggest challenges we have to overcome is ter-rain and environmental challenges that our systems face in the battlefield. Ruggedness of the system for use by soldiers is vital to its mission success. The REF is able to overcome most of these challenges by working with vendors prior to testing to ensure our systems can withstand the challenging terrains found in Afghanistan. We use our REF labs down range to help

ruggedize and enhance COTS systems while in theater. These enhancements are then shared with vendors to help alleviate future issues and ensure a good working relationship with indus-try. We also have the ability to send systems to government labs (MIT Lincoln Labs, SPAWAR [Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command], etc.) to ensure that systems are ready for use by soldiers. This also helps with requirement definition for future procurements.

Q: What currently is the most critical capability REF is moving to provide at the edge?

A: The REF is equipping units with hybrid energy solutions designed to reduce the sustainment burden for small tactical units operating at remote locations. In partnership with Pro-gram Managers Mobile Electric Power and Soldier Power, and the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, the REF is equipping and training soldiers to operate and main-tain tailored suites of energy harvesting, power management and distribution systems they will carry into theater. The use of these systems will reduce the frequency of sustainment operations to the small units at the tactical edge of the battlefield, thus freeing up critical combat power to conduct the primary mission.

The REF has partnered with Joint Program Manager-Guard-ian to develop an integrated surveillance and force protection system for small combat outposts. The soldier will benefit most from any force protection or surveillance capability that is simple-to-use, easy-to-emplace and integrated so that it links multiple sensors and systems.

Q: There has been ample discussion of reducing military spend-ing by $487 billion to $1 trillion over the next decade. What steps have you taken to reduce costs in REF?

A: REF represents the Army’s investment in better understand-ing emerging requirements and capabilities before large sums of dollars are invested in long-term programs of record. We strive to continually improve internal control mechanisms to reduce costs, but the overall REF funding is small, as our scope is limited to proving deployed-with-quantities requirements from deployed units. The REF rapidly provides urgent capabilities to U.S. Army forces employed globally by harnessing current and emerging technologies in order to improve operational effective-ness. The REF focuses on commercially available solutions that do not currently exist in the Army inventory, and transitions successes back to the Army acquisition community.

Q: Aside from COTS and GOTS [government off-the-shelf] programs, do you also have some R&D programs producing assets designed specifically for warfighters at the edge?

A: Warfighters at the edge include those on small combat out-posts [COPs] and forward operating bases [FOBs], as well as those dismounted soldiers without the protection of a vehicle. The REF has multiple priorities that support these warfighters including hybrid energy solutions, capabilities to reduce soldier load, and gain situational awareness of enemy position and


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Tami Johnson Manager

REF Project

Mike ChevlinStrategic Plans

Col. Pete NewellDirector

REF

Jose OliveroChief

Operations

Allen PinckneyDeputy

Lt. Col. Don CarterDeputy

Lt. Col. Shannon JacksonChief

Acquisition

Lt. Col. Keith CollyerChief

Intelligence

Sgt. 1st Class Eric SmithNCOIC


Sgt. Maj. James HashREF Sergeant Major

Bill ChildrersDeputy Director

Maj. Tom CaseyREF XO

Ali SandersPAO

Ruth LavinderDeputy

John PorterChief

Budget Management

Rodney SpannChief

Logistics

“Rock” RuarkDeputy

Joe RozmeskiDeputy

Gary FrostChief

TechnologyManagement

Galen ShellChief

Human Resources



activities. Our Energy to the Edge program focuses solely on the risks and demands of life on the tactical edge of the battle-field. Lighter-weight, ruggedized improvised explosive detection robots also improve conditions for soldiers in harm’s way at the edge. A recent capability called Kraken also gives troops in small COPs and FOBs visuals on surrounding locations with zoom and 360-degree controls. These, and other, efforts work together to

produce a suite of capabilities to enhance the lives of soldiers in dangerous and hard-to-reach locations.

The REF funds projects with RDTE dollars to conduct testing and evaluation, modify existing COTS/GOTS solutions, or inte-grate capabilities onto existing platforms.

Q: What advances is REF moving toward in the area of small unit communications? And do you have any initiatives in the area of general convoy protection?

A: The REF initially approached the dismounted Blue Force Tracker requirement by using terrestrial-based options for posi-tion location identification. This legacy system connected to the established 117G architecture and provided the dismounted unit the first terrestrial-based capability to track dismounted soldiers. However, in keeping with the Army’s radio modernization strat-egy that will field the new Soldier Waveform Radio [the PRC-154], the REF assisted in providing the improved capability of the GD300 device, which allows soldiers to connect the wideband network to have access to the Army’s operational network. With the new device, network access is now at the soldiers’ finger-tips. The REF continually partners with government agencies, academia, research laboratories and other Army program offices to develop applications on handheld devices that can be used in garrison and the combat environment without compromising security. The REF is also looking to leverage the advantages of the developing 4G network bubbles, for the small unit to operate independent of a large network. This new capability will allow small units to push and pull data as well as track dismounted soldiers up to the brigade level. The REF is partnering with developers and sharing its situational awareness of the tactical problem to provide soldiers the best capabilities available.

Q: Do you have any closing thoughts, such as an assessment of the work performed by the men and women of REF?

A: The REF’s mission is critically tied to the soldier in harm’s way. This reality drives the REF workforce to pursue speed and excellence in every task and project. I’m proud of the dedication and diligence found in every member of the REF family. We have an elite team consisting of military, contractors and govern-ment servants who share a passion for serving their country and troops. Our employees’ ability to collaborate and innovate drives much of our success. Our internal culture emphasizes personal accomplishment, constant growth and an ability to adapt to change. We recently launched a professional development series with MIT’s Sloan School of Management to enhance employees’ ability to define and manage complex business situations, resolve challenges efficiently, make vital connections in communica-tions, and to seek solutions in unchartered waters. In addition, we’ve begun hosting innovation thought leaders, inviting them to our headquarters to assess REF’s structure and internal opera-tions, while simultaneously interacting with employees to offer potential efficiencies in day-to-day functions. While still in the early stages, we hope to accomplish a result that anticipates impending challenges and leads solutions for the warfighter globally. O

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. adVertIsers Index

GCT RESOURCE CENTER

Calendar

June 4-8, 2012GEOINT Community WeekWashington, D.C. areawww.usgif.org

June 19-20, 2012AUSA ILW Army Combined Arms ManeuverSymposium & ExpoKansas City, Kan.www.ausa.org

July 11-12, 2012Military Vehicles Exhibition & ConferenceDetroit, Mich.www.militaryvehiclesexpo.com

July 12-13, 2012Warrior Expo EastVirginia Beach, Va.www.adsinc.com/warriorexpo

July 23-25, 2012Night Vision Systems SummitWashington, D.C. areawww.nightvisionevent.com

August 6-9, 2012AUVSI Unmanned SystemsNorth AmericaWashington, D.C.www.symposium.auvsi.org/

AM General.............................................................................................17

www.amgeneral.com

Amerex Defense ....................................................................................30

http://amerex-defense.com

American Innovations ........................................................................43

www.americaninnovations.com

Ametek Vehicular Instrumentation Systems ................................29

www.ametekvis.com

Beretta Defense Technologies ...........................................................C4

www.berettadefensetechnologies.com

Can-Am Engineered Products Inc. ..................................................35

www.canamengineered.com

Continental Tires .................................................................................19

www.continental-industrial.com

General Tactical Vehicles ...................................................................C2

www.generaltacticalvehicles.com

Golight ....................................................................................................... 9

www.golight.com

Grote Industries ...................................................................................33

www.grote.com

Leupold ...................................................................................................39

www.leupold.com

Master Pull .............................................................................................. 7

www.masterpull.com

Meritor Defense ...................................................................................... 5

www.meritordefense.com

Michelin .................................................................................................... 3

www.michelin.com

Military Vehicles Exhibition & Conference ................................... 12

www.militaryvehiclesexpo.com/gct

Precision Remotes ...............................................................................25

www.precisionremotes.com

Raydon ....................................................................................................13

www.raydon.com

Sanmina-SCI .........................................................................................C3

www.sanmina-sci.com

Skydex Technologies ...........................................................................21

www.skydex.com

Telephonics ............................................................................................11

www.telephonics.com/communications.asp

TSSi ..........................................................................................................23

www.tssi-ops.com

August 2012Volume 3, Issue 4

NEXTISSUE

Scott J. Davis

GCV Systems and Subsystems

GCV Variations

Bradley Fighting Vehicle AUVSI

Special SectionFeatures

Who's Who

Bonus Distribution

Insertion order Deadline: July 17, 2012 Ad Materials Deadline: July 24, 2012

TARDEC

Program Executive OfficerGround Combat Systems

Cover and In-Depth Interview with:

GCV Program Overview


Donald E. Howe has been with General Motors Defense/General Dynamics Land Systems for more than 34 years, holding key positions within each company. His primary expertise is in the management of wheeled armored vehicle programs. He has worked on the Canadian Armed Forces Armored Vehicle General Purpose program, the United States Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicle and the Saudi Ara-bian Ministry of Defense and Aviation LAV programs.

He was program manager for the USMC Air Defense and the Saudi Ara-bian National Guard LAV Modernization program, and proposal manager for the GM GDLS Defense Group Brigade Combat Team Interim Armored Vehicle program. In 2000, Howe was appointed director, Stryker program for the GM GDLS Defense Group Joint Venture Co.

In 2003, upon completion of the sale of GM Defense to General Dynamics Land Systems, Howe became senior direc-tor, responsible for the Stryker Wheeled Armored Vehicle Program. In 2007, Howe was selected to lead General Tactical Vehi-cles, a joint venture company with AM General, LLC. In his current position, Howe has overall responsibility for the leadership of the GTV JV team for the JLTV program.

Q: Could you describe General Tactical Vehicles?

A: General Tactical Vehicles [GTV] is a joint venture between General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynam-ics and AM General LLC. It was formed to provide the U.S. Army and Marine Corps a low-risk, affordable, technically advanced and economically sustainable solution to their joint light tactical vehicle [JLTV]requirements.

GTV leverages the vast experience and capabilities of its team members in a customer-focused, team-centered and out-come-oriented manner.

Q: How are you approaching the JLTV program?

A: The GTV approach to the JLTV EMD [engineering and manufacturing devel-opment] program is simple—it is about accountability, ownership, discipline, focus, speed and, most of all, commitment. Com-mitment to schedule, commitment to meeting cost objectives and commitment to delivery of operationally effective, suit-able and survivable equipment to our sol-diers and Marines.

Q: Why is your JLTV solution, the Eagle, a superior proposal for the JLTV?

A: GTV understands the urgency and criti-cality of providing the warfighter with an operationally effective, survivable and suit-able JLTV solution. The JLTV Eagle offers a modified non-developmental, low-risk vehicle with inherent manufacturing readi-ness that is built for program success and an accelerated path to production. We are on the ground and running. GTV member companies have over 120 years of experi-ence in designing, producing and evolving both tactical and combat wheeled vehicles for the U.S. armed forces. This experience is why we modeled our JLTV Eagle offering after the extraordinarily successful Stryker program. Experience enables success. The GTV JLTV Eagle is built for the future and ready now.

Q: How advanced is the Eagle IV design?

A: The JLTV Eagle meets the maturity requirements for engineering design, system operational reliability and ease of maintainability for maturity level 6 as defined in the RFP [request for proposals]. This high level of system maturity gives GTV

confidence that the JLTV EMD program can be executed affordably and predictably with regard to schedule and cost. Design maturity increases program success.

With over 1.4 million miles of opera-tion and 440,000 combat miles in Afghani-stan, the Eagle is a combat veteran with proven reliability and high operational readiness rates in theater using 21st-cen-tury technology. The JLTV Eagle builds on this exceptional platform with a mod-ernized suspension and drive train that has demonstrated over 5,200 mean miles between hardware mission failures in more than 34,000 miles of German government testing. This high level of operational per-formance is demonstrated, not predictive.

The JLTV Eagle is expeditionary. It can be transported by both fixed wing trans-port aircraft and heavy lift helicopters and by rail. It can also be transported on 100 percent of the amphibious assault ech-elon shipping, 99.97 percent of all cargo decks on all Maritime Prepositioned Force, Army prepositioned stock, and roll-on/roll-off shipping identified in the purchase description. Transportability translates into expeditionary agility.

Importantly, the JLTV Eagle is afford-able. We beat the unit manufacturing cost target. The modified non development item nature of GTV’s JLTV Eagle results in more accurate and reliable estimates than any other developmental platform can offer. In addition, the high reliability, ease of maintainability and condition-based maintenance of the JLTV Eagle will yield reduced life cycle cost.

Our mission is clear: GTV member companies are on the ground with our warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In Iraq, we remain after our warfighters have departed. We are there whenever and wherever our soldiers and Marines need us.

We’ve taken a tremendous vehicle and made it better: a combat-proven platform, optimized for the U.S. soldier and the U.S. Marine. Again, the JLTV Eagle is built for the future and ready now. O

Donald E. HoweSenior Director, JLTV Program

General Tactical Vehicles

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Ground Combat Technology


Forged from more than 500 years of innovative heritage, a new Alliance brings our warfi ghters the most advanced and integrated weapon systems and services.Beretta Defense Technologies— Your First Line of Defense.

gct 3-3 (june 2012)

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