ARMY AL&T
Being one of the first DOD acquisition programs to embrace the principles of “competitive prototyping,” JLTV’s solid acquisition approach is proving to be successful. “Through the efforts of three contractors to build JLTV variants, we can validate requirements and reduce risk,” said COL John Myers, Project Manager Joint Combat Support Systems.
Reviews and Testing Phases The three teams awarded contracts for the 27-month TD phase—BAE Systems, General Tactical Vehicles, and Lockheed Martin—have incor- porated design revisions from their independent preliminary and Critical Design Reviews (CDRs). Independent CDRs provide the Army and U.S.
Marine Corps (USMC) with the opportunity to assess the technical maturity of each team’s design relative to the TD phase requirements.
“As we progress from Preliminary Design Reviews to CDRs, each team is further refining their design. Then, they move into the build process,” said LTC Wolfgang Petermann, Product Manager JLTV. “What the government sees com- ing out of the CDR is what we should see in hardware when the vehicles are delivered for testing.”
Prior to testing, a series of indepen- dent test readiness reviews will serve as a checkpoint, ensuring that the vehicles were built as designed; the idea is to make sure that what was delivered on
paper is what is subsequently deliv- ered in hardware. “Shortly after the test readiness reviews, we will begin full vehicle testing, beginning with safety certifications,” said Petermann. “We will then move into performance and RAM [reliability and maintainability] testing. We will conduct user evalu- ations with Soldiers and Marines to verify requirements suitability. This is a robust test program not typically seen in a TD phase.” The prototypes will undergo 20,000 miles of RAM testing per vehicle. In addition to prototype testing, each of the three JLTV indus- try teams delivered armor coupons and a number of ballistic hulls for blast- test evaluation at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.
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