Last year I posted about buying MRAPS armored trucks for $500,000 apiece. Todays WSJ has ar article about Northrup bidding on a new "Joint Light Tactical Vehicle" to replace the Humvee sometime in the future. Target price is $300,000. Cheaper than MRAPS, but that ain't saying much. The plain old Jeep which worked just fine in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, and is still in production after 60 years, has an MSRP of $20,000. The much bigger fancier Humvee goes for $56,000. This here Joint Light Tactical Vehicle has gotta be wonderful to justify its price.
The picture of it shows fat offroad tires, no mudguards. A four man closed cab with a light machine gun on the roof and a slanty armored bottom. Boxy windowless van body on the back.
Other bidders include Lockheed Martin, BAE systems, Boeing, and General Dynamics. Hellova lot of high techie aerospace companies to do an armored car/truck. Either the military airplane business is drying up, and they need the work, or they expect to design high tech Future Combat Systems digital radio stuff into the guts of the vehicle. Which is a boondoggle. The fancy electronics should not be custom designed to fit just one vehicle. Design one good package and use it on everything from jeeps to tanks. Cheaper that way and much easier to stock spare parts for, train for, and manufacture in real volume.
The article mentioned that the brand new MRAPS armored trucks, first of which are just getting out to Iraq, have a few "issues" . Like too big and heavy to go off road or into the narrow streets of Baghdad, where they get stuck going round sharp street corners.
No comments:
Post a Comment