Thursday, June 17, 2010

Army testing new JLTVs

Army testing new JLTVs: "The U.S. Army and Marine Corps are using the newly built government prototypes of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to refine program requirements through rigorous ballistic, performance and reliability testing.

It's all part of an effort to field a next-generation tactical vehicle that can hit speeds of 70mph, withstand roadside bombs and other threats, drive through off-road terrain and fly through the air beneath a CH-47 Chinook or CH-53 helicopter, service officials said.

'The whole purpose of this TD (technology development) phase is to get the requirements right,' said Brett Johnson, JLTV chief engineer.

The three contractor teams for the current 27-month technology development phase -- BAE-Navistar, Lockheed-BAE and General Tactical Vehicles -- each delivered seven prototype vehicles engineered to reach an unprecedented blend of performance, payload and protection."