am-general-brv-o
The U.S. Army just took a big step closer to getting a brand-new, high-tech ride. [Yesterday the Army announced](https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=5a300ecfecf3e0c400aec31b310d48d5&tab=core&_cview=0) the three companies that will continue to develop the new [Joint Light Tactical Vehicle](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/10/sizing-up-the-w/), a sort of blend between today's workhorse Humvee and the [bomb-resistant MRAP trucks](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/07/the-militarys-new-monster-truck-for-afghanistan/) that have saved so many lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lockheed Martin, AM General and Oshkosh Defense each received around $30 million to refine their JLTV prototypes ahead of a final selection 27 months from now.
At stake in the seven-year-old competition: up to 50,000 trucks for the Army and another 5,000 for the Marines, at a cost of $250,000 apiece. The nearly $14 billion program is one of the few big, near-term prizes in Pentagon budgets squeezed by war costs and the economic downturn.
Some have questioned why the ground combat branches even need a new vehicle. After 11 years of war the Army and Marines are flush with fresh up-armored Humvees and no fewer than 20,000 of the hulking MRAPs, the latter costing $1 million apiece. There are so many surplus MRAPs that the Pentagon gives them away to allies and is [planning to park thousands of them](http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/02/a-savior-for-many-u-s-troops-struggles-to-find-a-home-in-a-changing-military/) in overseas warehouses, where they will await the next major ground war.
But the JLTV is special, the military argues. Thanks to its blast-deflecting shape and classified armor mix, the seven-ton new truck will have the same level of underside blast protection as an MRAP, but at half the weight. Though roughly the same dimensions as the Humvee, the JLTV ["has so much more payload and so much more capability,"](http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS22942.pdf) the Marine Corps said. The Pentagon hopes a JLTV-equipped force will be light enough to deploy quickly but tough enough to survive in the era of the improvised bomb.
AM General BRV-O
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As the maker of the stalwart Humvee, the Pentagon's standard truck since the mid-'80s, AM General was expected to field a strong JLTV candidate. The company calls its new vehicle the [Blast Resistant Vehicle – Offroad](http://amgeneralbrv-o.com/), or BRV-O.
*Photo: AM General*
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