THE U.S. ARMY NEEDS NEW TRUCKS. THE SERVICE WANTS TO REPLACE ITS AGING FAMILY OF HEAVY TACTICAL VEHICLES, WITH MORE AFFORDABLE MODELS BASED ON COMMERCIAL DESIGNS.
TO BUILD ITS NEW COMMON TACTICAL TRUCK, THE U.S. ARMY AWARDED FOUR CONTRACTS TO DIFFERENT COMPANIES TO BUILD PROTOTYPES. EACH TEAM WILL CONSTRUCT VARIANTS OF THE ARMY’S LINE HAUL AND MEDIUM TRACTORS, AS WELL AS A NEW PALLETIZED LOAD SYSTEM AND HEAVY EXPANDED MOBILITY TACTICAL TRUCK.
UNLIKE HUMVEES OR MRAPS WHICH ARE MOSTLY USED FOR TROOP TRANSPORT, THE ARMY USES CTTs TO HAUL LARGE EQUIPMENT OR OTHER ITEMS. THINK OF CTTs AS THE SEMI-TRUCKS OF THE ARMY.
WITH THIS LATEST PUSH TO DEVELOP NEW CTTs, THE ARMY WANTS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGIES, AND ADAPT THEM FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. BY USING MORE STANDARDIZED EQUIPMENT AND STREAMLINING THE SUPPLY, MAINTENANCE AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS THE ARMY HOPES ITS NEW FLEET OF CTTs WILL BE MORE RELIABLE AND EASIER TO MAINTAIN IN THEATER.
THE ARMY WILL START REVIEWING INITIAL PROTOTYPES FOR NEW CTTs EARLY NEXT YEAR. THE ARMY WILL NEED ABOUT 5700 VEHICLES DURING INITIAL PRODUCTION, A CONTRACT THAT COULD BE WORTH AROUND $5 BILLION DOLLARS.
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