Oshkosh Defense LLC, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which designs military vehicles and mobility systems — has been awarded delivery orders totaling $346.4 million from the U.S. Army Contracting Command – Warren to modernize vehicles in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV) fleets, the company announced Monday, March 30. Under the delivery orders, Oshkosh will recapitalize Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and Palletized Load System (PLS) trucks as well as manufacture new PLS trailers.
The Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV) contract was awarded to Oshkosh by the U.S. Army in March 2001.The FHTV fleet is designed to accommodate many mission packages, allowing it to support multi-domain operations as the battlefield continues to evolve. Recapitalized vehicles are rebuilt with the latest technology and safety upgrades and quickly returned to field operations with the same warranty and life cycle cost advantages of a new vehicle. Since 1995, Oshkosh Defense has recapitalized over 13,700 HEMTTs and 3,400 PLS vehicles.
“Whether they’re hauling rocket launchers and missile defense systems, or transporting mission-critical equipment, the HEMTT and the PLS will continue to be an integral part of the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve heavy vehicle fleets for years to come,” said Pat Williams, vice president and general manager of U.S. Army and Marine Corps Programs for Oshkosh Defense.
The Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) is an eight-wheel drive, diesel-powered, 10-short-ton (9,100 kg), tactical truck used by the US military and others. In evolving configurations, it has been in continuous production since 1982. The M977 HEMTT entered service with the U.S. Army as a replacement for the M520 Goer. By mid 2019, around 35,000 HEMTTs in various configurations had been produced by Oshkosh Defense through new-build contracts and around 13,000 of these had been re-manufactured. Current variants have the A4 suffix.
