Article Posted on : - Jul 02, 2010

Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT A4) vehicles. Photo: Oshkosh Corporation.

OSHKOSH (BNS): Oshkosh Corporation has received two contracts of approx $600 million, for the production of nearly 1,900 new and recapitalised severe-duty Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT A4) vehicles and more than 530 Palletized Load System (PLS) trailers.

The two contracts are given by US Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) for the US Army’s Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV).

“For more than 30 years, Oshkosh HEMTTs have provided unparalleled performance to US soldiers, the production of these next-generation vehicles and support trailers, as well as the recapitalisation of existing HEMTTs to like-new condition, signifies that the fleet will continue to support and protect war-fighters for decades to come,” Charlie Szews, Oshkosh Corporation president and chief operating officer, said in a company news release.

The Defense division of Oshkosh Corporation will remanufacture and recapitalise the heavily used vehicles. The old vehicles will be stripped to their frame rails and then they will be completely rebuilt and upgraded with the new A4 configuration.

The new upgraded vehicles will have more powerful drive- train, improved suspension, a fully air-conditioned and armour-ready cab and other structural changes to make in-the-field installation of add-on armour quicker and easier.

Recapitalised vehicles are reset to zero miles and zero hours and they will offer a significant cost savings compared to new vehicles.

The company will deliver the backbone of the US Army’s logistics and resupply fleet, ‘HEMTT’ by the beginning of July 2010 and will complete the order till September 2011. The production of PLS trailer will start in June 2011 and continue through October 2011.