Oshkosh Gets Contract For Military ‘Vehicle Of The Future’

Oshkosh Corp. will be supplying the military with thousands of state-of-the-art vehicles to replace the Pentagon’s aging fleet of Humvees as part of a new $6.7 billion contract.

Under the agreement, Oshkosh Corp. will produce 17,000 of the next generation of what the military calls Joint Light Tactical Vehicles. Oshkosh spokesman John Daggett said the Wisconsin company’s experience and superior design helped win the contract.

“Oshkosh is going to be really building the vehicle of the future,” he said.

Daggett said the new vehicle will be able to get fighters into a battle scene quickly, and get them back safely. He said it will feature “the ballistic protection of a light tank, the underbody protection of an MRAP — which is a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle — and really the off-road mobility of a Baja racer.”

All of the new military vehicles will be built in Oshkosh, protecting thousands of current jobs and creating an unknown number of new ones.

“This win is really good news for the state of Wisconsin, the city of Oshkosh, and obviously it’s good for our employees,” Daggett said. “It’s really going to help support thousands of jobs.”

Daggett said credit is due to company employees who, as members of United Auto Workers, agreed to a new labor agreement in 2013.

“We have had very good relationships with the UAW,” he said. “They have been a real partner with us.”

Daggett said that the contract could grow to as much as $30 billion dollars in the future if the military eventually orders 55,000 vehicles.