The US Army has announced four other transaction authority contracts with Mack Defense, Navistar Defense, Oshkosh Defense and the American Rheinmetall Vehicles/GM Defense team totaling $24.25 million.
Contractors will provide three prototypes of each variant for the Common Tactical Truck, or CTT, family of vehicles.
The prototypes will represent their offerings for the M915 Line Haul Tractor and the M1088 Medium Tractor; palletized loading system (PLS); and the Heavy Enhanced Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT).
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The CTT is a family of vehicles that will replace the M915 line tractor and the M1088 medium tractor; PLS; and HEMTT; leveraging best commercial practices, lower procurement costs (commercial economies of scale) and technology. Suppliers will also provide digital blueprints of all variants and a design study for the car wrecker. This phase of rapid prototyping is intended to inform the military whether commercial variants can meet military requirements. The CTT program seeks to alleviate current deficiencies in driver safety systems, autonomy, fuel economy and predictive maintenance.
“The CTT effort brings an increased level of standardization to the Army’s tactical truck fleet. This effort is reminiscent of the original Liberty Truck, a heavy duty truck produced by the United States Army during World War I,” said Combat Support and Combat Support Program (PEO CS&CSS) executive officer Brig. Gene. Samuel L. Peterson.
“It was designed by the Quartermaster Corps with the help of the Society of Automobile Engineers in 1917 to help standardize the vast parts catalog and multiple types of vehicles then in use by the US military. It was the first officially standardized motor vehicle adopted and produced by the US military. The CTT program can be seen as the Liberty Truck of the 21st century, as it will similarly strive to streamline the Army’s supply, maintenance and training requirements.”
According to Wolfgang Petermann, Project Manager, Transportation Systems, PEO CS&CSS, the CTT program is intended to redesign the fleet to integrate commercial technologies such as advanced driver assistance systems, ready for autonomy (the foundation for future autonomy), fuel efficiency, export power also as a prognostic and predictive maintenance.
“This approach allows the military to modernize at the pace of industry, integrating new technologies as they evolve. Additionally, commonality in the CTT family of vehicles will enable open modular designs and interchangeable repair parts across the fleet, resulting in simplified supply chains and reduced total life cycle costs,” said Petermann.
Evaluation of the initial delivered prototypes is scheduled to begin in early 2024. Using the results of the prototype evaluation, the program office, in collaboration with the Army sustainment community, will present a follow-up Capability Development Document to the Army Requirements Oversight Council with a decision expected in FY 2026.
Assuming the requests are approved, the program office will then conduct a full and open competition; requiring bidders to deliver production-representative vehicles for wear testing leading to a production contract.