AM General, maker of the U.S. military's legacy light tactical vehicle fleet, will toss its hat in the ring for the upcoming competition to build Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, a move that presents incumbent Oshkosh with a formidable challenger and assures the Army an industrial rivalry that acquisition officials hope will drive innovation and a fair cost in an estimated $7.6 billion project. Jim Cannon, AM General president and chief executive officer, said the South Bend, IN-based company - which along with Lockheed Martin lost a three-way competition in 2015 for the original JLTV contract - plans to bid for the new chance to build 16,000 JLTVs. "The Army needs competition," Cannon said in an Oct. 11 interview at the Association of the United States Army's annual convention. "So, 100%: We're in to win JLTV." GM Defense is also a potential contender for the JLTV competition; however, company officials are not as unequivocal as AM General. "We are still active in dialogue competition," Rick Kewley, GM Defense vice president for product development and advanced engineering, told Inside Defense on Oct. 13. "It's not a final RFP and we're still active in that competition."
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