Lockheed Martin Withdraws Lawsuit On US Army Vehicles Contract Awarded To Oshkosh

Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its protest in federal court on a $6.75 billion contract for new armored vehicles development awarded by the US Army to Oshkosh Corp.  

The company spokesman John Kent said the company decided to withdraw its lawsuit from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims after "careful deliberation," but gave no further details, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The move by the US firm is followed by the court's decision last week to let Oshkosh continue work on new trucks for replacing Humvees, while the protest was being reviewed.

Oshkosh on Friday said it would resume work on the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) trucks after the court's decision.

Lockheed had argued that the U.S. Army's evaluation of the competing bids was flawed because it assessed the reliability of the rival vehicles using different standards.

The Government Accountability Office, the congressional agency that rules on contract protests, dismissed Lockheed's protest in December after the company announced its plan to take the matter to federal court.

One source familiar with the case the GAO had been poised to reject Lockheed's protest before it decided to file a lawsuit in federal court, and the federal claims court only very rarely reversed a decision made by the GAO, the report added.