By Courtney E. Howard

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - AM General in South Bend, Ind., and General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Mich., have formed a joint venture called General Tactical Vehicles to compete for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program.

General Tactical Vehicles will focus on the design, development, and production of a mobile, survivable, and technologically innovative wheeled utility vehicle for the armed services that meets all the requirements of the JLTV program.

General Tactical Vehicles will operate in the Detroit metropolitan area, enabling its engineers to take advantage of the best available automotive technology and military research and development efforts to deliver the future JLTV.

The JLTV family will include five Mission Role vehicles: the Combat Tactical Variant, the Command and Control Variant, the Utility Variant, the Light Infantry Squad Carrier Variant, and the Reconnaissance Variant.

In addition to sporting a basic armor protection package and support for an add-on armor kit, the network-enabled JLTV will not only provide power to on-board electronic components, but also offer the ability to export power to external systems. General Tactical Vehicles, like other technology companies vying for the JLTV multiservice contract, will need to satisfy these and other design needs, as well as to meet transportability, mobility, and affordability requirements.

This joint venture marks the first time these two U.S. defense companies have teamed together on a collaborative project. Last year, the Office of Naval Research awarded JLTV “Best Technical Approach” trade studies to both companies.

For more information, visit General Dynamics and AM General online at www.generaldynamics.com and www.amgeneral.com, respectively.