DSSI: Shaun Bava
Ok, perfect, so to start off, what marks Oshkosh as a manufacturer for international military vehicles?
John Lazar:-
Shaun, that’s a great question, the JLTV is an international vehicle that is positioned for our allied and coalition partners. We at Oshkosh Defense have a strong history of 100 years providing trucks to the US DOD; as well as foreign military customers largely through foreign military sales, but recently we see the JLTV breaking into the European market quite strongly. We are very well positioned to offer a vehicle that provides unprecedented value for money and because of our contract with the US Department of Defense (DOD) contract, scales of economy and vigorous testing that you won’t see other vehicles being subjected to.
DSSI: Shaun Bava
Great; right; so how has this recent Belgium procurement program shaped your understanding of the European market and possible international requirements for another future vehicle procurement program?
John Lazar:-
Shaun, Oshkosh Defense is honoured and humbled that we were chosen in a full and open competition by the Belgians using the standard of value for money. This is our first full and open competition in Europe. Shaun as you probably know your country, the United Kingdom, hasalready signed a demonstration / phased deal with the US government, through FMS, to investigate the integration of UK equipment on the JLTV. There has been some public documents on the purchase of the JLTV but I would defer to your own government as to when and how many they are going to buy. We’ve also seen in the European Market several other countries, Montenegro, in October 2019 announced their decision to procure 67 JLTVs and the first 20 vehicles are scheduled to be delivered to Montenegro in November this year. In October 2018, Slovenia signed a LOA, which is the command of offer and acceptance in a foreign military sales process, between the Ministry of Defence and US Government to purchase 38 JLTV’s.
What marks Belgium as something different is that this is the first time a European customer has purchased the vehicle via full and open competition. So I think it’s very exciting. What you see is the value for money, the economies of scale, and unprecedented performance of the vehicle and blast / ballistic capabilities, it really has a lot to offer that isn’t out in the market right now.
DSSI: Shaun Bava
– How does Oshkosh Defense as a company see the future for armoured vehicle developments; in different parts of the world, i.e. here in Europe?
John Lazar:-
Shaun; as you probably know the JLTV offers MRAP levels of protection so we have the A Kit which provides objective level protection according to the US government requirements which is ‘crush resistant’ and then the ‘B Kit’ which meets the objective level required around the underbody blast and IED. What’s remarkable about this capability for the protection is we offer an increased mobility. Normally there is this dilemma between mobility and armoured protection and we offer a vehicle that provides unprecedented mobility while providing blast and ballistic protection. We have a TAK 4i suspension system based on a double wishbone; fully independent which offers 70% faster travel off road than our benchmark vehicles. So you have increased mobility and you have increased blast and ballistic protection which is not found in current vehicles.
DSSI: Shaun Bava:
Oshkosh Defense is well known for the testing it does on its vehicle through its design stage; all the way through to post delivery; but how long does it take on average; from concept to production for a new vehicle?
John Lazar:
Oshkosh Defense is quite unique compared to some of the other wheeled vehicle producers. At Oshkosh Defense we make military trucks to the government requirements. We don’t make commercial trucks and modify them to meet military requirements. So the answer to your question is that it varies depending on customer requirementss.
DSSI: Shaun Bava:
Do you see Technology Transfer as a way of gaining international market share in the future? A lot of our contributors from different countries are potentially looking at creating a local supply chain of manufacturers; it’s not something for everyone; and many are looking for a complete finished product; whereas some countries are looking at a local supply chain to take part in manufacturing. Do you see that as a way of developing vehicles in the future in different countries?
John Lazar: So in all countries we have talked about there is going to be cooperation of indigenous systems such as weapon systems or C4ISR systems. Oshkosh Defense is a leader in integrating these systems. We have over 100 different kits for the US Army and we’re currently working on some specific items for the UK and some of their systems. Oshkosh Defense is always looks forward to partnering with indigenous industry to ensure that our end customer gets exactly what they need.
DSSI: Shaun Bava:
Great, I suppose the question that everyone has on their lips at the moment; is how is the recent COVID 19 pandemic affected manufacturing operations? Is Oshkosh still looking to deliver in the same time spans?
John Lazar: That’s a great question. COVID-19 has impacted a lot of businesses; but as you know Shaun; the Department of Defense has said defence contractors are part of our critical infrastructure and national security, so we are still operating and continuing to follow the guidelines from our Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to mitigate any spread of COVID-19 and we’re continuing always to look at ways to reduce risk. But we are still operating.
DSSI: Shaun Bava:
My last final question; is what can we expect from Oshkosh in 2021 – specifically for the international market?
John Lazar: We’re very excited about our opportunities in Europe and around the world as more countries see the value in value for money, economies of scale, and unprecedented mobility that the vehicle offers. With its level of protection, I think we’re going to find more European countries, and more international customers. We’re very excited about the opportunities we see. We have already made around 8800 of these trucks as of September and delivered them to the DOD. The economies of scale are just remarkable compared to other parts of the world. We are going to be able to offer that value for money; because of that. The vehicle went through over 400,000 miles of developmental testing. That’s a high standard to meet. So we feel a lot of other countries are going to see the value for money.
