Workers stand next to the Mercedes-Benz R-Class production line at AM General’s Commercial Assembly Plant in Mishawaka. The luxury car went into full production this summer after Mercedes announced in January it would be moving its R-Class manufacturing from Tuscaloosa, Ala., to Mishawaka. SBT Photo/BECKY MALEWITZ
SOUTH BEND — AM General got a heavy dose of bad news this summer when the federal government chose competitor Oshkosh Defense over the local manufacturer for the military’s new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program.
It was a disappointing end to a large investment of time and money by South Bend-based AM General for a deal worth an initial $6.7 billion but that could reach $30 billion over the eight-year contract. But even the bad news is tempered by a string of successes in recent years for the company that has repeatedly demonstrated its resiliency.
The need for JLTVs, a vehicle with speed and mobility but the defense of a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle, in foreign combat has been long sought as the landscape of war zones changed in the time since AM General started producing the Humvee.
For some in the defense industry, the JLTV is seen as a replacement to the Humvee, but AM General, which employs more than 1,300 locally and has built the Humvee at its Military Assembly Plant for more than 30 years, disagrees with that assertion.
With the JLTVs entering Army and Marine units where historically Humvees were used, though, many armored Humvees at least will be replaced, said James Hasik, a senior fellow for defense at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. Hasik has worked as a consultant on projects including armored vehicles, among other military areas like artillery and naval weaponry.
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