The Marine Corps is expected to buy more than 1,000 heavy trucks to replace
its aging fleet of battlefield resupply vehicles. Industry officials await a
formal solicitation, scheduled to be released this month.
The program, called the Logistics Vehicle System Replacement, has been funded
in the Marine Corps’ fiscal 2003 budget. The spending plan includes nearly
$25 million between 2003 and 2005. The Corps would like to have the LVSR truck
in the fleet by 2007. Up to 1,200 vehicles could be purchased.
The LVSR is a heavy tactical transport vehicle for bulk liquids, ammunition,
ISO containers up to 20 feet in length, tactical bridges and bulk cargo. This
vehicle also would perform wrecker and recovery duties and tow semi-trailers
carrying heavy-oversized equipment.
The Marines already have an LVSR prototype, which they call a “technology
demonstrator,” but they will not expect the final vehicle to look exactly
like the demonstrator, said Lt. Col. Tom Manley, who manages tactical wheeled
vehicle programs at the Marine Corps Systems Command.
The demonstrator is an existing LVS, upgraded with advanced technologies from
the commercial trucking and automotive industry. The vehicle was built and tested
at the Nevada Automotive Test Center and recently relocated to the Quantico
Marine base, in Virginia, for more testing.
The contractors competing for the LVSR program will receive “performance
specifications,” but will not be instructed on how to build the vehicle,
Manley told National Defense. “The technology demonstrator only shows
the realm of the possible. It does not mean the vehicle has to look exactly
like the demonstrator.”
Only a year ago, the LVSR program was in budgetary limbo. But in recent months,
it appears that delays in the Marine Corps’ V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft and
next-generation amphibious vehicle programs freed up dollars for LVSR, said
an industry source. Truck manufacturers are speculating that, if the program
gets going this year, production could begin in 2005, with orders of up to 120
vehicles per year.
The Corps eventually will retire 1,800 LVS vehicles, but will buy fewer replacements,
because they are more capable, officials said.
Engineers and industry executives who are familiar with the LVSR demonstrator
hail this vehicle as the epitome for how military trucks should be built.
“The Marines are leading the way in military trucks,” because they
pick and choose from the most advanced technology available in the automotive
sector, said an industry source. Unlike the other military services, he said,
“they do business with less bureaucracy.” When it comes to tactical
trucks, he added, “The Marines have upstaged the Army.”
One of the engineers who helped design the LVSR demonstrator is Goef Schmitz,
president of Island City Engineering, in Schofield, Wis.
Even though the LVSR prototype includes commercial components—such as
the engine and the transmission—its performance requirements are “very
stringent,” compared to non-military vehicles, he said. To make it externally
transportable by CH-53E helicopter, for example, “you have to break the
truck into two parts, so it disconnects in the center,” Schmitz said.
The vehicle has an autonomous front-power unit.
When taken apart, the LVSR front section becomes a two-axle truck. Either side
has to weigh no more than 28,000 pounds to be transportable.
The Marines also have a strict turning-circle requirement, because the trucks
must operate on ships. The existing LVS has a hinge in the center, but that
is a complex setup, which has created stability problems, said Schmitz. The
LVSR has four additional steering axles and multi-axle steering, which allows
it to make a turning circle and a three-point turn on a ship deck.
One feature that the Marines appreciate in the LVSR is the off-road mobility,
he said. Even though it’s twice the size of the Marine medium truck, called
the MTVR, the LVSR could operate in the same environment and has the same independent
suspension as the MTVR, which is made by Oshkosh Truck Corp. The company also
made the original LVS vehicles.
The LVSR demonstrator has state-of-the-art electronics and can self-diagnose
malfunctions. It has no batteries. Instead, it relies on two capacitors, which
have a 10-year life expectancy and allow for quick start-up in cold weather.
The vehicle only uses one fluid to service all the lubrication needs, from a
single reservoir. With a single-fluid system, the oil only has to be changed
every two years.
The vehicle also has a central tire-inflation system, which automatically readjusts
to operate in various types of terrain. “It’s designed to minimize
operator effort,” said Schmitz.
The automated tire-pressure system is synchronized with the engine transmission
and the driveline, so the vehicle can be configured for a particular terrain
and payload with the push of one button.
The Marines also like the “rapid refueling capability” in the LVSR,
said Schmitz. The refueling receptacle is identical to the one used in Marine
Corps aircraft. The truck can be refueled in less than 10 minutes.
Industry Competitors
Given the decline in the production of new trucks for the military services
in recent years, companies are expected to compete aggressively for the LVSR
award. An “industry day” hosted by the Marine Corps Systems Command
late last year drew dozens of corporate executives. A contract award could come
as early as March 2003.
One of the competitors surely will be Oshkosh, whose rivals fear that the company
already has the inside track in this project, given the success so far of the
MTVR program.
According to one industry source, who attended the industry day, several executives
from truck manufacturers “walked out,” peeved about alleged favoritism
toward Oshkosh.
A newly formed company, called the American Truck Company LLC, is expected
to compete for LVSR business. The firm makes an “Americanized” version
of the heavy-duty trucks made by Tatra, a 150-year-old company based in the
Czech Republic.
For U.S. customers, the company would assemble the trucks at the Wilmington,
N.C., plant of Terex Corp., which recently purchased 40 percent of Tatra. The
American Truck Company is a joint venture of Terex, Tatra and STV USA.
The firm will assemble, market, and sell off-road heavy-duty vehicles, primarily
to military customers, based on the Tatra design. The vehicles will be marketed
under the Terex, American Truck and Tatra brand names.
Tatra vehicles are well known among U.S. military truck makers. The company
supplied the Soviets with gigantic tractor-trailers to transport intercontinental
ballistic missiles. Tatra trucks also have been used in U.S. test programs as
performance benchmarks against which to evaluate U.S. tactical vehicles.
Industry insiders give high marks to the Tatra suspension, which reportedly
enhances the truck’s mobility and allows it to negotiate rough terrain
with significantly less vibration than most other vehicles. Tatra sold 2,000
trucks last year, and is now looking to expand its U.S. business.
The American Truck Company plans to compete for both the LVSR and the next-generation
Army Future Tactical Truck, which is now in the early stages of design.