SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- AM General’s Light Tactical Vehicle Assembly Line (LTVAL) is full of activity as the company’s Blast Resistant Vehicle(TM) - Off road (BRV-O(TM)) steadily moves through the production line and on to Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) government testing (see photo link below). The company’s experienced workforce, many of whom work on this active line, has produced approximately 300,000 of the company’s iconic High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) for all branches of the U.S. military, as well as the armed services of more than 50 other countries.

The new BRV-O(TM) represents more than a decade of AM General investment in research, development and testing for this next-generation vehicle for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. In August 2012, the company’s independent proposal for JLTV was selected for a $64.5 million Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase contract. As one of three competitors, AM General is building 22 BRV-O(TM)s for delivery in August and subsequent government testing in the EMD phase. These will include a 4-seat variant Combat Tactical Vehicle that supports three different mission package configurations and a 2-seat variant Combat Support Vehicle that supports a utility mission package configuration for different mission roles across the full spectrum of military operations.

“We are setting the pace on integrating components, meeting timelines and other requirements and working closely with our military customer representatives daily,” said AM General Vice President of Business Development and Program Management Chris Vanslager. “Light tactical vehicles are in our DNA, and it shows in the focus, excitement and pride all along the assembly line. Low risk, high quality and affordability is what our customer demands and we at AM General have more than five decades of experience and a more than 1.5 million light tactical vehicle heritage to back it up.”

He noted that AM General’s highly skilled workers know light military trucks from decades of experience. They actively contribute to production engineering, continuous product improvements, and what is among the highest build-quality indices in the industry. A measure of the high quality level of the product engineering and manufacturing was recently displayed when the weight of the first eight BRV-O vehicles validated the design weight.

AM General’s Military Assembly Plant is dedicated to light tactical vehicles and is capable of producing different vehicles, models, configurations and paint schemes at the same time. It often has done so in manufacturing HMMWVs for U.S. and foreign military customers while earning a record of delivering reliable and versatile vehicles on time and on budget.

As the BRV-O(TM) JLTVs leave the LTVAL at the Military Assembly Plant, they will receive additional “mission packages” some provided by AM General and others as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), to convert each base vehicle into a specific mission package configuration such as the Heavy Guns Carrier. Then each vehicle undergoes AM General break-in and shake-down testing before delivery to the military.

Over its long history, AM General has produced more than 1.5 million light tactical vehicles in defense of this country’s freedom — far more than any other American company. BRV-O(TM) features a crew capsule of modular armor design currently undergoing government blast testing. The BRV-O(TM) design can be readily adapted to future changes in U.S. military missions, enemy threats and new protection technologies as they emerge. BRV-O(TM) also features AM General’s lightweight, fuel efficient and high performance engine and transmission powertrain; a self-leveling suspension system; a C4ISR backbone with open-standard networked architecture and clustered super-computing power; and other advanced components.

AM General designs, engineers, manufactures, supplies and supports specialized vehicles for military and commercial customers worldwide. AM General has more than five decades of experience meeting the changing needs of the defense and automotive industries, supported by its employees at major facilities in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, and a strong supplier base that stretches across 43 states.

AM General
12.06.2013