Saturday, October 18, 2025
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
A Defense Department decision to overlook the superior design of candidate Joint Light Tactical Vehicles in favor of technically acceptable bids with the lowest price played a key role in prompting the Ford Motor Co., an industrial giant interested in bringing its engineering and global logistics capabilities back to the military, to walk away from the competition, according to officials familiar with the company's thinking.
Ford Motor Co. will not pursue a bid for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle being developed by the Army and Marine Corps due to time line concerns, according to a company spokesman.
A bid protest in the Ground Combat Vehicle program will lead to a one-year delay as well as a $1.7 billion cut over five years, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said today.
The Army has released a request for proposals for the next phase of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a key step for the program as it progresses to the next stage.
The Army will request $300 million in fiscal year 2013 to pay for depot work to recapitalize 10,000 up-armored humvees -- a move that effectively pivots the service away from plans for competitive recapitalization of the vehicle, InsideDefense.com has learned.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno today laid out the Army's top modernization priorities and sought to define the service's new role in light of the Pentagon's fresh focus on the Asia-Pacific region, announcing the creation of a trilateral partnership between his office and the ministers of defense from Japan and South Korea.
In a stunning reversal of fortune for the competitive humvee recapitalization effort, Pentagon officials plan to cancel the Medium Expanded Capacity Vehicle and shift the money saved to pay Navy and Air Force bills, Inside the Army has learned.
The Army's development of the Ground Combat Vehicle is on unsure footing due to a high price tag and the fact that U.S. military strategy is pivoting toward power projection in the Pacific and away from extensive ground engagements, a new report to Congress contends.
A request for proposals on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program's engineering and manufacturing development phase is expected to be released on or about Jan. 20, with up to three contract awards planned for June, according to a Jan. 5 Army announcement.
A recent deal to "bundle" the purchase of 100 Stryker Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicles with 292 double-V hull variants already under contract will save the Army nearly $50 million, according to an acquisition decision memorandum obtained by InsideDefense.com.
General Dynamics announced today it has completed its tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock in Force Protection Inc., practically consummating the marriage between the two companies.
Congressional appropriators have brought the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle back from the brink, approving $134 million for the Army and Marine Corps to allow the program to proceed, according a statement from the appropriations conference committee.
The Army's Ground Combat Vehicle is funded at nearly $450 million in the fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bill, well below the Army's request of $884 million, according to a House and Senate conference committee report.
Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, has discussed with the Defense Department the possibility of competing to build the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a prospect that government sources say influenced DOD's recent move to drastically lower cost targets.
The Government Accountability Office has ruled against Science Applications International Corp., which had filed a bid protest against the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program, according to a GAO official.
The Army's Training and Doctrine Command is building a new tactical wheeled vehicle strategy that outlines how many trucks will remain in the service in the wake of planned end-strength reductions, according to officials and sources.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program office today issued an update to its draft request for proposals stating that the Army and Marines are now willing to pay $65 million to each potential contractor for the vehicle's engineering and manufacturing design phase, up from the previously planned $52 million.
Two senior Army leaders said today they believe the effort to save the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is bearing fruit on Capitol Hill, where budget-minded lawmakers are poised to terminate the program.
Lt. Gen. William Phillips, the military deputy to the Army acquisition executive, and Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, the service's chief programmer (G-8), are fond of calling each other "battle buddies" because of how often they find themselves representing (and defending) Army acquisition efforts before Congress and the media.
The Army wants Congress to restore nearly $1 billion in canceled funding for a host of major acquisition programs, including the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which was terminated by Senate appropriators last month, according to government documents.