General Dynamics Leans In For US Army's Light Reconnaissance Vehicle: If the US Army doesn’t want the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to fulfill its requirement for a nascent Lightweight Reconnaissance vehicle, what does it want?
Officials at General Dynamics believe the answer could be a variant of the Flyer 72, a 10,000-pound truck which is its offering for a US Special Operations Command program, the Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1.
The comments come after Army acquisition chief Katrina McFarland told Defense News that the Army is not longer married to plans to use the Oshkosh Defense-made JLTV to bridge a lethality shortfall for infantry brigade combat teams. Though the requirements are still being developed, JLTV lacks the seats for an entire reconnaissance squad and would need weapon mounts and other mission-related equipment— a possible opening for ultralight vehicle manufacturers.
“Our interpretation is the Army has realized there is a capability now that exists for the lightweight reconnaissance vehicle with a variant of our program with SOCOM,” Sean Ridley, the program director at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS). “Six soldiers, under armor with overmatch lethality is available now and ready to go.”
