Oshkosh Delivers Terrain Vehicles To UAE

Oshkosh Defense delivers the last of the 750 MRAP-All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV) to the United Arab Emirates.

John Bryant, senior vice president was quoted as saying by Defense News that Oshkosh is working on a long-term maintenance and supply agreement with the UAE to keep those M-ATVs humming. The UAE deal was announced in July 2012, and deliveries were completed this past August.

The company is working on the potential Saudi deal – an undisclosed number of the lighter MRAPs supply; the report said the deal announcement is expected by the end of the year.

Since the program came on line in 2009, the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command purchased about 8,700 M-ATVs for use in Afghanistan, but as part of the overall divesture of its wartime MRAP fleet, the government will keep about 5,600 of them, with the Special Ops Command retaining about 250 vehicles.

The U.S. government is planning on re-fitting almost all of the vehicles that come back from Afghanistan at its own government depots, but that Oshkosh’s supplier base should still see plenty of work funneling parts and technical expertise to the depots to finish up the work, the report added.

The company is also currently working on a series of safety, survivability, and mobility upgrades for the vehicles as they come home, including suspension upgrades and a new communications suite for international customers that would allow them to integrate more — and different — radios onto the platforms.

As one of the three finalists for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, the company fears funds shortage to continue testing by next summer, unless they receive an infusion of cash.

But company is continuing to perform its own testing on the JLTV, likely for the government use if needed, the report added.