Defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin Corp. has withdrawn its protest of the U.S. Army's decision to award a contract to develop a Humvee replacement to truck-maker Oshkosh Corp.
"After careful deliberation, Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its protest of the JLTV contract award decision in the Court of Federal Claims," according to a statement released Wednesday evening by the company.
No reason or any additional information was given.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based company in September filed the complaint, less than two weeks after the Army awarded Oshkosh a $6.7 billion contract to build the first 17,000 production models of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
The work could eventually be worth some $30 billion, as the Army and Marine Corps plan to buy a total of nearly 55,000 of the combat vehicles, including 49,100 for the Army and 5,500 for the Corps, to replace about a third of the Humvee fleets.
Oshkosh, maker of the Army's fleet of medium- and heavy-tactical trucks and all-terrain-version of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicle, known as the M-ATV, beat out Lockheed and Humvee-maker AM General for the low-rate initial production contract.
