American Rheinmetall Vehicles, a developer of tactical wheeled and tracked combat vehicles and systems in Sterling Heights, has announced their collaboration with General Motors Defense to compete in the U.S. Army’s Common Tactical Truck (CTT) program.
The CTT program looks to identify a replacement platform for the Army’s family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles.
“American Rheinmetall Vehicles is a committed partner to the Army, bringing next-generation capability, technology, and competition to high priority Army modernization programs like CTT. GM Defense shares our commitment, and together our team will provide a transformational truck to support the Army and its Soldiers,” says Matthew Warnick, managing director for American Rheinmetall Vehicles.
“General Motors has a century of experience supporting the Department of Defense with a remarkable heritage in design, engineering and manufacturing. GM Defense continues that heritage with the ability to rapidly develop and deploy advanced technologies, bringing an important capability to the American Rheinmetall Vehicles team and our exceptional CTT offering.”
The Army expects to complete multiple prototype projects before determining whether to proceed to initial production that could entail purchase of approximately 5,700 vehicles at a value of around $5 billion. A request for prototype proposals for the first phase was issued in late June with an expected contract award in December 2022.
Rheinmetall MAN Military vehicles (RMMV), a subsidiary of Rheinmetall, is a global leader in tactical military truck development and manufacturing. The Group’s HX family of trucks have been sold to 20 customers globally including an active Allied user group consisting of Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Rheinmetall recently unveiled its next generation series of truck, HX3, with advances in power, mobility, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and an open systems architecture with pathways to hybrid technology incorporation, leader follower driving, and autonomous operations.
The militarized HX3 series has substantial commercial technologies reflecting Rheinmetall’s joint venture with MAN Truck & Bus, which streamlines logistics and sustainment burdens and provides benefits in vehicle upgrades. An Americanized HX3 forms the basis of what the American Rheinmetall Vehicles and GM Defense team will offer the Army in the first phase of the CTT program.
The HX3-CTT contains a new open system electrical architecture allowing rapid integration of leader follower and autonomous capabilities that focus on protecting the soldier. The product emulates best-in-class advances in commercial truck technology, safety, fuel efficiency, and emissions reduction. This will reduce obsolescence issues and overall lifecycle costs.
GM Defense is a rapidly expanding, wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors in Detroit, delivering 2.2 million vehicles in 2021 alone, and remains the largest commercial provider of military vehicles in history. As GM’s purpose-built government-facing entity, GM Defense will bring its manufacturing capabilities and technological excellence to the CTT team, influencing GM’s innovation and portfolio of commercial technologies to advance customer capabilities.
Having been selected to deliver the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) to the Army under an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract, GM Defense understands rapid prototyping, agile design and engineering, and rapid delivery.
The CTT Program is a rapid prototyping effort that uses a middle tier acquisition strategy and OTAs to enable the Army to quickly test tactical truck prototypes to replace its family of heavy tactical trucks. The Army is seeking a modern platform featuring advanced driver safety systems, increased off-road mobility, cybersecurity, machine learning, artificial intelligence, improved survivability, and fuel efficiency among other emerging technologies.
The program will enable the Army to replace legacy vehicles like the Palletized Load System (PLS), Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), M915 Line Haul Tractor, and other platforms in the current heavy and medium tactical wheeled fleet.
The Army says a truck with maximum commercial elements, able to perform military missions, and that can bring commonality among mission roles are top priorities for the program.
“On the heels of successfully delivering the ISV to our Army customer, GM Defense is excited to join American Rheinmetall Vehicles on the CTT program to deliver another exceptional mobility solution for our Soldiers,” says Steve duMont, president of GM Defense.
“This strategic collaboration enables GM Defense to continue showcasing our advanced capabilities, leveraging GM’s innovation and proven commercial technology. With American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ HX3 as the starting point, I’m confident that together we will deliver a winning solution that meets or exceeds the Army’s requirements and provides a platform for growth and technology insertion to support our warfighters well into the future.”
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