Inside Defense
Oct. 28, 2009 -- Pressure on the Defense Department's budget, coupled with the urgent needs of war, may force the Army to reduce funding to the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, according to a senior service official.
There is a "longstanding need" for a humvee replacement, Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, deputy chief of staff for programs (G-8), told reporters yesterday at his last media roundtable before retiring after 35 years in the service. However, it is a long-term priority, he said, meaning its funding may need to be reduced in the near term to make room in the budget for capabilities critical to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"In the near term, we may be forced, depending upon what the defense topline is and how pressing new needs are, to make trades in which JLTV is potentially reduced or trimmed in some way, but I think there's a longstanding requirement," he told reporters.
The Army purchased the majority of its 140,000 light tactical wheeled vehicles between 1990 and 1992, said Speakes. Like any wheeled vehicle, these will eventually need to be replaced over time, he added.
"That force over time needs to be modernized," he said. "It's not a pressing need of war that needs to change the composition of the entire force overnight. It's a thoughtful modernization approach."
"It is part of a larger recapitalization issue that will probably take place in the next 10 or 15 or 20 years," Speakes continued. "In other words, it will take time to do."
And, "the near-term exigencies of war" may cause the service to go "up and down in terms of our procurement patterns," he added. -- Kate Brannen
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