A field of six industry competitors has officially begun to compete for one of the last major vehicle modernization contracts left in the wake of the Army's approaching era of declining resources: The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle/.../
Lindsey, the CSBA analyst, called the intensity of the JLTV competition "refreshing" and said it would better serve the Army and Marine Corps. "Competition means more choice and hopefully better choices, as well, since it can breed innovation and create powerful incentives to keep prices down," he wrote. "In some other sectors of the industrial base we've allowed ourselves to get into a position where we have very few suppliers to choose from, so it's encouraging to see that is not currently the case in the tactical wheeled vehicle sector."
Lindsey also pointed out that, despite the oncoming age of austerity for the defense industrial base, the TWV sector as a whole seemed well-poised to cope with declining opportunities. "The number of bids and the even larger number of contractors making up the various teams suggest that this is a pretty healthy sector of the defense industrial base," he wrote. "That's reinforced by the fact that a lot of the companies competing like Navistar, Oshkosh, Meritor, and Ford are commercial manufacturers first and foremost, but have clearly found ways to take the design knowledge, production base, and supply chain they use for commercial cars and trucks and use it in the production of tactical wheeled vehicles."
But that doesn't mean the entire sector is safe from a downturn, he added. "Of course, the industrial base could deteriorate in an 'age of austerity' -- in fact it almost assuredly will," he wrote. "But it's good to see that at least we're starting from a good place and some critical design and manufacturing capability will survive in the commercial sector."