Back to the Well

The Army intends to buy 10 new humvees from manufacturer AM General, according to a notice to industry.

The service wants the M1151A1B1 variant, which includes "an updated armor package, air conditioning system, and Reliability Enhancement Vehicle (REV) components that improve engine cooling and vehicle suspension for increased vehicle reliability and performance," the notice states.

An announcement of the acquisition is required because the proposed transaction is a sole-source procurement. As the notice states, the Army does not "currently have a competitive technical data package," which would be necessary to have the vehicles built by any manufacturer.

Officials plan to avoid such "vendor lock," as the dependence on a single source is dubbed, in the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program. Prospective vendors, including AM General, were encouraged to submit an option for the service to acquire the technical data package so that future production runs can be competed.