WASHINGTON — -- Lockheed Martin has filed a preliminary injunction with the US Court of Federal Claims that if granted would mean the Army and Oshkosh would have to stop production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
"Oshkosh was informed that Lockheed Martin requested a preliminary injunction ... with respect to Lockheed’s JLTV protest," a company spokeswoman said in a statement Fridaytoday. "Oshkosh is very hopeful that this latest protest filing will not be permitted to further delay the JLTV program."
Retired Ret. Army Maj. Gen. John Urias, Oshkosh Defense’s president, said in the statement, "while the litigation process is underway, our employees will continue to work at full speed on the JLTV contract to support our Army and Marine Corps customers."
The Army awarded Oshkosh a contract to build its Humvee replacement in August. Oshkosh beat out both Lockheed and Humvee-maker AM General for business that could be worth up to $30 billion.
Lockheed subsequently filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office on Sept. 8 while AM General decided against filing a protest.
On Tuesday, the GAO dismissed Lockheed's protest citing the company's intention to sue in a federal court as its reason.
Lockheed said it decided to take the protest to the federal court US Court of Federal Claims because of new Army-supplied information that emerged toward the end of the GAO’s protest process.
In a Tuesday evening statement, Lockheed said: "Recently, we were made aware of a substantial number of documents directly related to the competition that were not provided to the GAO or Lockheed Martin until very late in the protest process. We believe this newly discovered information should have been considered by the GAO before issuing a ruling on the protest, however, GAO declined to grant an extension to the 100-day deadline and could not consider the new documents."
The company filed its complaint in court on Thursday.
The Army told Oshkosh it could start its work on the JLTV program following the GAO's decision to dismiss the protest, but Oshkosh will have to put the brakes on production if a judge decides work should stop while the case is taken up in court.
In a statement today, Lockheed said, "We look forward to having our Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) complaint heard, and all evidence evaluated, by the Court of Federal Claims."
Email: jjudson@defensenews.com
Twitter: @JenJudson
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.
