JWF Defense, CTC involved in military vehicle venture

By SHAWN PIATEK
The Tribune-Democrat

October 29, 2008 11:25 pm

— And then there were three.
After twice delaying announcements in a competition to make the next line of military ground vehicles, the U.S. Army on Wednesday named the finalists.
Among the three teams selected to build the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV, was one led by Lockheed Martin. That was of particular significance to the Johnstown region because JWF Defense and Concurrent Technologies Corp. are among Lockheed’s teammates on the venture.
“Obviously, we’re thrilled and excited by this opportunity,” said John Polacek, chief operating officer of JWF Defense.
The other winning teams were led by major prime contractors General Dynamics and BAE Systems.
Each of the three partnerships were awarded technology development contracts worth between $35.9 million and $45 million.
This next phase is expected to last 27 months and will result in a contract award expected to be worth $20 billion.
Joining JWFD and CTC on the Lockheed team are well-known industry players Alcoa Defense and BAE Systems Products group, formerly Armor Holdings.
Kathryn Hasse, director of tactical wheeled vehicles at Lockheed, singled out JWFD as one of the top players in the successful bid.
“They’re a key teammate,” Hasse said. “They’re a world-class fabricator and will be doing a lot of the actual component fabrication for us.”
All of the participating companies will be briefed in the coming days by the Army regarding their bid. Until then, the companies cannot be sure why their entry was or wasn’t selected among the finalists.
Polacek said he thinks the extensive testing of the Lockheed model was key to its selection. The Lockheed team has three operational prototypes and logged far more test-track hours than its competitors.
“I think the overall design and maturity of the vehicle made it attractive,” Polacek said. “This vehicle has been tried and tested over and over in the field by Lockheed Martin. I really think they liked the maturity of the vehicle.”
Polacek said JWFD will not require many additional workers to satisfy its duties in the technology development phase. He said the company may need to hire five workers to assist in the next phase of the competition.
Representatives from CTC could not be reached on Wednesday.