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U.S. Marine Corps Awards General Dynamics $19 Million for Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Long-Lead Materials STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), a $19 million contract for the advanced procurement of long-lead material (LLM) for the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot 1. The EFV is the Marine Corps' highest priority expeditionary modernization program. The EFV is an expeditionary vehicle that can launch forces from 20 to 25 nautical miles at sea and transport them to shore at speeds in excess of 20 knots, three times faster than the current platform's speed. The EFV is capable of land speeds up to 45 mph while exhibiting mobility characteristics equal to or greater than the M1A1 Abrams tank. The EFV's breakthrough expeditionary design provides outstanding cross-country mobility, lethal firepower, high water and land speed, extensive information and communications networking, and optimum crew protection and survivability. EFV provides elements of flexibility and tactical surprise critical to establishing battlefield dominance. Under this contract, General Dynamics will provide all components, material, parts and technical effort required to procure the long-lead material for the anticipated future contract for EFV LRIP Lot 1. This amounts to 15 Lot 1 vehicles, including 13 EFV-P and 2 EFV-C variants. The EFV-P is the personnel variant and will be the primary infantry mobility vehicle as its three-man crew transports 17 combat-equipped Marines to missions on land and across water. The EFV-C is the command variant, and will be employed as a tactical command post for maneuver unit commanders at the battalion and regimental levels. The EFV-C will host a state-of-the-art command, control, communications, computing and intelligence (C4I) suite to fulfill Marine Corps mission needs during the 2008-2030 timeframe. Work under this award will be performed in Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, Germany, the Netherlands, Florida, Virginia, New York, Alabama, Maryland, Ohio, Canada, California and Michigan and is expected to be complete by October 2006. The Marine Corps awarded General Dynamics the EFV contract in 1996. The vehicle entered the system development and demonstration phase in 2001. LRIP Lot 1 begins in fiscal year 2007 and is slated to be followed by three additional annual LRIP lots for quantities of 17, 26, and 42 vehicles, respectively. Full-rate production will commence in fiscal year 2011 and continue through 2020, at which point total of 1,013 EFVs will have been produced. The EFV main assembly site will be the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, Lima, Ohio. Source: GDLS U.S. Increases Order for Combat-Tested Javelin TUCSON, Ariz. -- On the heels of a $119 million contract from the U.S. Army in May, the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture (JV) received a $110 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for Javelin Anti-tank Weapon System production. The contract is for an additional 901 command launch units and 101 trainer systems. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., and Tucson, Ariz., and will be completed by September 2008. Javelin is currently in full-rate production. Javelin is in service with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps and has been deployed by the U. S. and Australia in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where more than 1,000 rounds have been fired successfully against tanks and alternate targets. Coalition forces are also effectively employing the CLU (Command Launch Unit) in surveillance and anti-IED (Improvised Explosive Device) operations. "In Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, Javelin has been used successfully for surveillance, as an assault weapon, against buildings, against vehicles (including armor and pick-up trucks) and against fighting positions," said Col. Lloyd McDaniels, U.S. Army Close Combat Weapon Systems project manager. In addition to its use by infantry and special forces, Javelin is currently being evaluated for integration onto ground and naval platforms. The Javelin JV is also working on a number of technology spirals in support of future requirements. "Our customer has told us that Javelin is its weapon of choice because of its impact on the battlefield. This was evident in the taking of Baghdad Airport and also in the Battle of Debecka Pass, where Javelin neutralized threat armor, saving soldiers` lives," said Mike Crisp, president of the Javelin JV. "We know that warfighters depend on their weapon systems to perform when they need them," added Howard Weaver, Javelin JV vice president. "Two young Marines who used Javelin in the retaking of Fallujah have attested first-hand to its effectiveness as an urban assault weapon." Raytheon Company, with 2004 sales of $20.2 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. Source: Raytheon Co. Oshkosh Truck's Unmanned Vehicle Qualifies for Pentagon's $2 Million Desert Race Team; TerraMax(TM) One of 20 teams to Compete in DARPA Grand Challenge OSHKOSH, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE) --Oshkosh Truck Corporation and partners Rockwell Collins and the University of Parma, Italy, announced that their robotic truck, TerraMax(TM), qualified late yesterday to compete in the $2 million DARPA Grand Challenge, a 150-mile race of unmanned vehicles across the Mojave Desert on Saturday, Oct. 8. TerraMax successfully completed all four scheduled runs of 2.2- and 2.9-mile qualifying obstacle courses at the California Speedway in Fontana, Calif. "This is an unprecedented moment for Oshkosh Truck and our partners at Rockwell Collins and the University of Parma," said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "TerraMax has done very well in all of the qualifying events, and we believe its technology could someday be an enormous asset to our nation's military." TerraMax is based on the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) truck platform built by Oshkosh Truck for the Marine Corps. It operates without a driver or remote controls, using a guidance system based on standard, yet ruggedized navigational computers, a sophisticated global positioning system, laser range-finders, and a synthetic vision system. It can carry more than seven tons off-road, making it the largest entry in the Grand Challenge race. Team TerraMax is now headed to Primm, Nev., where the DARPA Grand Challenge will begin on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 3:30 a.m. EDT. The final field of 20 teams, whittled down from 195, will receive course coordinates just two hours before race time. The information will then be programmed into TerraMax before it heads to the starting line. "To successfully compete in the Grand Challenge will require awesome off-road capability, a really rugged design, and a fusion of software, laser, and synthetic vision systems," said Don Verhoff, Oshkosh's executive vice president of technology. "We're confident in our technology and hopeful about our chances to win." The DARPA Grand Challenge is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense's think tank for future technology, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). No vehicle successfully completed this race last year - the first year the race took place. This year's race will be webcast live at www.grandchallenge.org. The TerraMax Vehicle The platform for TerraMax is Oshkosh's combat-proven MTVR combat vehicle, which was originally designed for the U.S. Marine Corps to handle off-road terrain. The vehicle's 6x6 design is equipped with independent suspension to make desert terrain easier to handle. Drive-by-wire technology allows computers to control the steering via a servo motor, an actuator to operate the brakes, and direct electronic control of the accelerator and transmission. Five ruggedized computers control the main functions needed for TerraMax to drive and navigate itself. The computers run on specialized software that Rockwell Collins developed for map and route planning, driving, obstacle detection and avoidance, sensor data input and interpretation, and diagnostics. Sensing systems, including laser range finders and digital video cameras, provide the inputs that TerraMax needs to detect roadways and avoid obstacles. In addition to team partners Oshkosh Truck, Rockwell Collins and the University of Parma, Team TerraMax is sponsored by ArvinMeritor, Fastenal, Oxford Technologies, Parker Hannifin, Ricoh, Caterpillar, Landstar, Michelin, MCL Industries, TransPro and others. Source: Oshkosh Truck |
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