Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR)
The Marine Corps Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) Program is designed to replace the existing medium fleet with new and more advanced fleet. The MTVR, affectionately known as the "seven-ton truck", is being used as the replacement for the old 5-ton truck. The MTVR will have an increased payload of 7 tons off-road, 12 tons on-road, a high performance suspension, traction control, new engine, automatic transmission, and corrosion technology upgrades.
The Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement program is a USMC program managed by the Army. The USMC has a need to replace its existing medium truck fleet with a more robust vehicle capable of carrying more payload, at a faster speed, over more difficult terrain. While this program began as a remanufacture effort for 5 Ton trucks, it has evolved into the procurement of a new advanced technology vehicle carrying increased payload with added mobility and corrosion protection.
The Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement is a cost-effective, state of the art system to replace the existing M809/M939 medium tactical trucks. The MTVR can readily negotiate terrain twice as rough as the current fleet’s capability and has a mission profile of 70% off road and 30% on-road, increased payload (7.1 tons off road and 15 tons on road), and improved cross-country speed (up to 30 mph). It is also a safer, more reliable system through extensive use of proven commercial heavy truck componentry that meets today’s over the road truck safety standards. The MTVR prime mover has a central tire inflation system (CTIS).
The MTVR specs read like an exotic sports car, but this is an extraordinary truck that redefines the term "all terrain." With anti-lock brakes and traction control, 425 turbocharged horsepower, a seven-speed automatic gearbox ducting power to six drive wheels and an off-road payload in excess of seven tons, the MTVR certainly is "Truckzilla." The MTVR will realistically do just about any task you throw at it. A 729 cubic inch Caterpillar turbodiesel 6-cylinder powerplant generates 425 hp at only 1,800 rpm, plus stump-pulling torque of 1,550 pound-feet at just 1,200 rpm.
The torque is useful when hauling up to 7.1 tons of payload off-road - and a staggering 15 tons on-road. The truck will climb a 60 percent slope without breathing hard and traverse a 30 percent side slope at 15 mph. It can keep up 5 mph on a 40 percent slope. The MTVR, which weighs roughly about 26,000 pounds when empty, pulled a German re-fueler truck that weighed about 70,000 pounds fully loaded out of the mud near the BLT's Administration and Logistics Center without ever losing traction.
There will be several variants of the basic MTVR platform for use with different taskings, but they won't arrive on the job site all at the same time. The Marine Corps will mostly concentrate on the short-bed model, while most Seabee variants will instead be based on the long-bed MK28 Cargo Truck for general-purpose cargo and hauling. Later, the stable will grow with the addition of a MK30 Dump Truck and the MK36 Wrecker. A 5th-wheel tractor, for pulling trailers and other heavy equipment, is in development somewhere over the horizon. The dump and wrecker maintain maximum commonality with the basic MTVR cargo chassis while performing their unique mission. Fielding of dump and wrecker will be complete by September 2005.
The MK28 is a vehicle of giant proportions, designed to manhandle the biggest jobs in the Seabee inventory. The 184.5-inch wheelbase alone is nearly identical to the overall length of a Humvee. At a generous 314.9 inches for even the short bed, the three-seat MTVR's overall length is 116 inches longer and more than eight times heavier than some commercially-sold sport utility vehicles.
Creature comfort figures prominently among the MTVR's upgrades. Improved ride quality is due in large part to the four-corner independent suspension with unequal-length upper and lower control arms, shocks, coil springs, and fore and aft stabilizer bars. The driver's seat has its own suspension to provide additional filtration of moguls and road imperfections, and the cab seals well from the elements.
The one-week MTVR training course has already been running about 18 months, putting about 65 students through the SCBT curriculum. It includes two days of classroom familiarization on performance and capabilities, and hands-on training with the "collateral gear," such as jacks, dealing with the bows and tarp over the cargo area, the winch and so on. In addition, it covers all the work tasks the extraordinary vehicle can accomplish. The highlights for students are the check rides, both on and off the pavement.
Marines conduct training exercises on counter ambush techniques while at the same time engaging targets with .50 cal machine guns from Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) and High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV).
The truck has the capability to be airlifted, to break it down to 98 inches in height during aircraft embark practice. In order to trim nearly three-and-a-half feet off the behemoth, the exhaust stack and air intake come off; the top of the doors are removed; the entire aft portion of the cab folds up into the roof, which then folds forward over windshield - and the entire package then folds down onto the hood. The breakdown can be done in about 30 minutes at an average pace. If you wanted to really race, you could probably do it in about 20 minutes.
A $853M five year multiyear production contract was awarded to Oshkosh Truck Corporation in Dec 98. Production verification testing is scheduled to begin in Feb 2000 with a MSIII Full production decision 1st quarter FY01. The USMC would like to replace its entire medium fleet of 7,360 vehicles under this program. This program was originally combined with the US Army 5 Ton Truck Remanufacture (5TTR) program. However, that program was cancelled due to lack of funding. The program is managed by the Product Manager for Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement Program. The MTVR program is an ACAT II program.
As a result of Phase I, two contractors were awarded contracts to manufacture prototype vehicles and support government testing. Competition for the Phase II Production contract was limited to the Phase I contractors. There were two bids solicited on July 31, 1998, and two bids were received. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command, Warren, Mich. (DAAE07-99-C-M007).
On December 18, 1998 Oshkosh Truck Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded $49,225,894 as part of an $853,027,418 (base year total) firm-fixed-price multi-year contract, with a cumulative total of $1,242,471,874 if all options are exercised. This contract award is for Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) Phase II production to provide the U.S. Marine Corps with MTVRs. This Phase II Production contract includes a basic quantity of 5,666 vehicles with options for an additional 2,502 vehicles under a five-year multi-year firm-fixed-price type of contract. The contractor will provide Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETMs) for operation and maintenance, and provide military "train-the-trainer" concept training courses. A 90-day failure free and two-year systematic type warranty to include a pass-through of all commercial warranties is also included. The options for additional vehicles include contractor technical assistance, vehicle deprocessing, and new equipment training. Work will be performed in Oshkosh, Wis., and is expected to be completed by July 10, 2005. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The repair parts supply support for the MTVR will be accomplished by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in a “prime vendor” relationship with the Government using Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange (EC/EDI) and Direct Vendor Delivery (DVD) arrangements. The OEM will be responsible for supplying repair parts, providing inventory forecasting, technical support, and order status reporting. A five-year CLS contract is planned for February 2001. Current estimate of CLS cost avoidance is $30M based on inventory reduction and repair part costs. Estimated cost avoidance has been included in the current budget.
Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) Trailer (MTVR-T)
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) Trailer (MTVR-T) trailers will replace the M105, M149 and M353 Trailers and will augment the payload and complement the capability of the MTVR series of tactical vehicles. The MTVR-T will deliver and dispense water at the unit level and will transport ammunition, breakbulk, engineer equipment, generators, air compressors, welders, and communications equipment. At least one, but no more than three trailer configurations will be provided to accomplish these missions, as long as maximum commonality of parts among the configurations is achieved. The MTVR-T shall be capable of transporting payloads over 7,000 lbs (threshold) (KPP), 10,000 lbs (objective), over the entire mission profile of the MTVR. The MTVR-T shall be capable of transporting various types of cargo to include ammunition, breakbulk cargo, power generation systems, and bulk liquids. Integral ISO locks and/or modules may be considered to accommodate the variety of configurations.
