Protests by Textron and Northrop Grumman of JLTV Awards Denied

(MoneyWatch)  Last November we wrote that the U.S. Army had awarded three development contracts for the HUMVEE replacement -- the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). Two of the losing bidders, Textron Systems and Northrop Grumman, protested the decisions. Crain's Detroit Business reports that the GAO has denied those protests. As with any protest the Army had to issue a stop work order to the three winners while the protest was resolved. Now that it has General Dynamics, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin can resume developing their prototype vehicles. The program plan is to have test of the various proposals and then award one or two manufacturing contracts. The potential for this contract is huge as there are tens of thousands of HUMVEE vehicles to replace.