Lockheed Martin Corp. has announced that it is pursuing a court case against the Pentagon over the alleged mishandling of a $6.75 billion military truck deal which was awarded to rival truckmaker Oshkosh Corp, according to The Wall Street Journal. The deal involved an ongoing program to replace the U.S. Army's Humvee combat vehicles.
Lockheed Martin initially filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office in August, after the U.S. Army granted the first 17,000 of an estimated 55,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) manufacturing contract to Oshkosh. Even after providing a number of documents to support its case, Lockheed's protest was ultimately rejected, reports Yahoo! Finance.
In response to the GAO's rejection, Lockheed Martin has opted to escalate the argument, filing a suit against the Pentagon. "After careful consideration of all options, Lockheed Martin decided to file a complaint with the Court of Federal Claims concerning our Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) contract award process. We look forward to working with all parties involved on the next steps," Lockheed Martin said in a statement, according to The International Business Times.
Despite Lockheed's protest, however, Oshkosh has continued to work on the project. According to an Oshkosh spokeswoman, the company hopes that Lockheed's new protests will not compromise the production of the vehicles. "We are hopeful that this latest protest filing will not be permitted to further delay the JLTV program and delivery of these vehicles to provide greater protection for our troops in future missions," she said.
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