Military trucks are iconic in their roles on and off the battlefield. Moving vast amounts of goods, ammo, and personnel quickly is a key part of any country’s logistics victory.
The U.S. Army is holding a new design competition for its Common Tactical Truck program. These are the workhorses of the Army’s logistics program.
Up for grabs are manufacturing contracts for nearly 5,700 vehicles, worth nearly $5 billion. Four design firms, Mack Defense, Navistar Defense, Oshkosh Defense, and an American Rheinmetall/GM Defense team, are going head-to-head after being awarded a cumulative $24.5 million to begin work on the project.
These companies are not just designing one truck. They aim to modernize the entire ground logistics backbone of the Army. From line-haul trucks, fuel tankers, palletized transporters, tow trucks, and troop carriers, the Army seeks new versions of the entire wheeled fleet.
The new contract wars revolve around the M1088, M915, and M977 HEMTT in particular. The M1088 is the iconic military cabover often used in off-road scenarios. The M915 is the on-road, more commercial-styled truck, currently being built to look more like a mil-spec Western Star.
The Army not only wants replacements for these trucks but a few others as well. They want a militarized tow truck, able to haul anything in the arsenal.
They also want a new palletized cargo system to streamline freight transportation and a truck to pull it with. That means the 8×8 M977 HEMTT, or Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, will be getting a new look as well.
The 8-wheel drive, 10-ton beast of burden is often seen pulling the heaviest of freight, often used to haul tanks and massive single-unit equipment.
According to Defense News, The U.S. Army will begin evaluating the initial prototypes at the start of 2024. The evaluation results will feed a “capabilities development document” that will be submitted to the Army Requirements Oversight Council. An AROC decision on whether to move forward is planned for sometime in fiscal year 2026.
They have also restarted the contract of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, awarded to Oshkosh Defense in 2015. That winning contract is set for an announcement early in 2023.
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