What A Racket

Baggers and repugs want to cut guvmint and spending as much as can be gotten by with. Me too but you will never see these dim wits by choice around these parts of the defense budget where it's full steam ahead as the Humvee will be history. Meet the JLTV what ever that stands for. And the race is on.

Four primary contenders are vying for the contract: Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Oshkosh Defense and General Tactical Vehicles, a joint team of General Dynamics Land Systems and Humvee maker AM General. A source selection evaluation board will award up to three contracts this summer. Each will have 22 prototypes put through the wringer in a fast-paced 27-month acquisition strategy. The Army wants at least 20,000 JLTVs, with the potential for a larger buy for the program, with an estimated worth of $20 billion. Army officials plan to replace a third of their 150,000-vehicle Humvee fleet with the JLTV. The Marine Corps plans to buy 5,500.