Lockheed Martin ends legal challenge to JLTV contract
by February 17, 2016 10:02 pm 982 views
One of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle prototypes built by Lockeed.
Lockheed Martin on Wednesday (Feb. 17) said it has withdrawn its protest of the $30 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle award, ending the defense giant’s six-month long legal battle to wrestle the highly-sought after military contract away from Wisconsin rival Oshkosh Defense.
“After careful deliberation, Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its protest of the JLTV contract award decision in the Court of Federal Claims,” the company said in a statement to Talk Business & Politics.
Lockheed Martin filed its federal lawsuit just before Christmas after the U.S. General Accounting Office’s (GAO) decision on Dec. 11 to throw out the defense giant’s protest of the U.S. Army’s decision to allow Oshkosh to build the next-generation military vehicle.
Lockheed’s initial protest with the GAO was filed on Sept. 8, challenging “various aspects” of the federal agency’s evaluation and source selection process concerning the lucrative contract awarded to Oshkosh Defense on Aug. 25. Between the original protest and the federal lawsuit, the Bethesda, Md.-based defense giant submitted two supplemental protests to address concerns regarding the GAO’s evaluation of Lockheed Martin’s original offer to build its version of the JLTV at the company’s industrial site in East Camden, Arkansas.
The decision by the nation’s largest defense contractor to end its legal challenge comes nearly a week after Oshkosh officials said the Wisconsin company would continue to perform work on the JLTV production contract based on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ decision to deny Lockheed Martin’s request for a preliminary injunction while its protest was being heard. The U.S. Army lifted the stop work order and instructed Oshkosh to resume performance on the JLTV contract after Lockheed Martin filed its lawsuit.
“This decision is another indication that the U.S. Army conducted a thorough, methodical procurement process, and we are confident that the original JLTV contract award to Oshkosh will be upheld,” Oshkosh Corp. President and CEO Wilson Jones said on Feb. 12. “The Oshkosh JLTV team, including our employees and hundreds of suppliers, is pleased to continue our work to deliver JLTVs to our nation’s soldiers and Marines.”
The first phase of the Pentagon’s JLTV award hands out $6.7 billion to Oshkosh’s production team over eight years to manufacture 17,000 of the armored vehicles that follow in the line of the original Jeep and popular, but bulky Humvee.
Over the 25-year life of the JLTV program, the Department of Defense has estimated the U.S. military will need up to 55,000 JLTVs as Army and Marine combat soldiers adapt to roadside bombs, IEDs and other modern warfare fighting tactics in Afghanistan, Iraq and the war against ISIS.
Lockheed Martin officials have not said what they plan to do with the JLTV production facility in Camden, which produced eight company-funded prototypes of the combat vehicle in the weeks before the Pentagon announcement. One of those vehicles was displayed at the Arkansas State Capitol during last year’s special session to secure bond financing for the potential superproject.
The defense giant’s dedicated JLTV website was still active on Wednesday night after Lockheed Martin officials halted its legal claim. The JLTV portal still has photos, videos, maps, marketing materials and timelines highlighting key events in the company’s 12-year crusade to win the Pentagon award.