Army plans to raise JLTV trailer contract ceiling

The Army plans to increase the number of Joint Light Tactical Vehicle trailers it can buy under its existing contract with Oshkosh Defense by 2,021, according to a May 23 notice.

This will allow the military to buy up to 5,562 trailers under the existing contract, compared to the previously allowed 3,541, according to the notice.

The Army announced in 2020 that it would increase the production ceiling in the current JLTV contract to 23,163 vehicles, but it did not say at the time how many extra trailers it could buy. Other services that use the JLTV buy their vehicles and trailers through the Army’s contract.

Lower-than-expected unit costs and a delay to a follow-on contract led to raising the vehicle procurement ceiling, the program manager responsible for the JLTV said last year. Costs per vehicle were about 17% below earlier government projections.

Oshkosh is expected to face competition for a JLTV follow-on production contract, which could be worth $7.3 billion over a decade. Bids for that contract are due July 15, and the Army plans to announce a winner on Dec. 22.

Procurement costs could grow at the beginning of the follow-on contract, according to the Army’s fiscal year 2023 budget request. That request would include an increase in the Army’s JLTV procurement spending, to $703 million, after multiple years of cuts.