To start a long series of updates on the current light to medium military trucks of the current US Army, which just celebrated its 250th anniversary, here is the FMTV since 1990. In this family, we will start with the M1083, probably the best known of them all. But all variants will be seen over time, namely the M1078-M1096 as well as the M1140, M1147, M1148, M1157, as well as XM1160 prototype, Mongoose MLC project and the M1273 A1P2 MTV. So many upgrades to come for the largest post on truck encyclopedia since the Opel Blitz and Canadian Pattern.

A project started in 1983

Steyr prototype

The "Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles" (FMTV) were developed on a common chassis, varying by payload and mission requirements. The bae principle is the same since the 1950s, trying to find modularity and ommonality in militry hardware in rder to reduce costs, streamline maintenance, repairs, upgrades, and training. The FMTV program is however often seen as a modern (post 1990) project, as the first vehicles enteredes service in this first decade, but its is derived from a much older program and an existing chassis, selected by the US Army after a competition initiated in 1982. The happy bunny was Steyr, with its 12M18 truck. However noy only it was to be produced in the US, and to satisfy US needs, substantially modified to meet very specific requirements pleasing many actors.

The final vehicle was tt include a minimum 50 percent U.S. content. This explains why the programmed dragged for so many years, almost two decades as the first trucks entered service officially in 1996... There were also originally seventeen FMTV variants:
-Four variants in the nominal 2.5 U.S. ton payload class, or Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV)
-13 variants with a nominal 5 U.S. ton payload rating, or Medium Tactical Vehicle (MTV).
The first FMTVs were fielded in January 1996 indeed, modified with the the knowledge of the gulf war and Yugoslav wars, and the family had been expanded whereas the overall design was enhanced considerably.

On the manufacturing plant also, the FMTV was at first manufactured by Stewart & Stevenson for a decade (1996–2006), then by Armor Holdings between 2006 and 2007, and BAE Systems Platforms & Services. From 2011 to this day, they are manufactured by Oshkosh Corporation, a giant of tactical mobility born from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Cold war TRADOC requirements (1983)

1985 LTV prototype

The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) requirements document was issued in 1983. It called for a new Medium Tactical Truck (MTT), to replace the legacy 1950-60s standard medium trucks such as the Dodge M37 and eventually the heavier 6x6 M35. The intended replacement was initialy for a 2.5-ton payload truck. In July 1984, the program thn ncluded a future 5-ton truck procurement to replace 2.5 and 5-ton trucks altogether. Cost analysis demonstrated it was more cost-effective to joint both programs on a similar platform. By October 1984, the "FMTV" in name was formally made a program. The request for proposals (RFP) for the FMTV was published four years later in 1988. The market to be awarded was worth 120,000 trucks over three five-year contracts.

October 1988:

The United States Army awarded contracts to Stewart & Stevenson , under the "Tactical Truck Corporation", a 50/50 joint venture between General Motors Military Vehicles and the BMY Wheeled Vehicle Division from the Harsco Corpor as well as Teledyne Continental Motors In all, 15 prototypes of each of the two classes were shecduled to be completed and delivered by January 1989.

In October 1991, with the prototypes thoroughly tested, a five-year FMTV contract was awarded to Stewart & Stevenson. The initial contract order was 20,000 vehicles, but reduced to 10,843 vehicles later as even the US tested the "dividens of peace". It was still valued at US$1.2 billion. Options were added which grew this total to 11,197 vehicles over seven years. In January 1996, the first FMTVs was fielded.

October 1998:

Stewart & Stevenson was awarded the second FMTV contract for 8,000 trucks, plus 1,500 trailers, for $1.4 billion. With options this represented an additional 11,491 trucks and 2,292 trailers, which were delivered between September 1999 and October 2004. The new trucks, whatever the version, were of the A1 model upgrade with the new 1998 EPA compliant uprated engine, new transmission, plus ABS braking. In July 2000, the first A1 of eadh variant started to be fielded to active units

Production Milestones

April 2001:

Stewart & Stevenson and Oshkosh Truck Corp. are awarded contracts for the Evaluation Phase (Phase 1), FMTV A1 CR (Competitive Rebuy) for the next FMTV production contract.

April 2003

After trials and evaluation, the contract is awarded to Stewart & Stevenson. Production of the FMTV A1 CR (FMTV A1R) starts Q3 2004. Many Improvements to A1R models were numerous, and included a new EPA 2004 compliant Caterpillar C7 engine. A total of 21,149 FMTVs and companion trailers were built under the FMTV A1R contract award.

May 2006:

Stewart & Stevenson was acquired by Armor Holdings Inc. and from August 2007, the latter was acquired by BAE Systems. At that stage, two variants of the "Future Tactical Truck System" (FTTS) was envisioned to virtually replace all the US inventory of legacy cold war tactical wheeled vehicle fleet, even the 1980s FMTV. But the FTTS never materialized. It continued however to be used to define requirements fore future trucks and had some impetus on FMTVs models. BAE Systems was awarded a bridging contract in June 2008 to built 10,000 FMTVs plus trailers, with an additional 10,000 in option, that was exercised.

May 2009:

BAE Systems competed with Navistar Defense and Oshkosh Defense with a proposal for the FMTV A1P2 "competitive rebuy program" in the Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Command. In August Oshkosh Defense was announced the winner. The award was protested by BAE Systems and Navistar. The program included a 5-year 'build-to-print' requirements type award, from 0 up to 12,415 trucks and 10,926 trailers up to 2014. Some FMTV variants were excluded from the competition such as the HIMARS, Patriot, MEADS and LVAD and all the armored cabs developed by BAE Systems as a compensation.

February 2012

: FMTV work with BAE Systems concluded with the latter focusing on armor B-kits. Until the, the company managed through its facilities to deliver around 74,000 FMTV trucks and trailers.

March 2012:

U.S. budgetary projections suggested constraints, and that the program would be terminated in FY14. Orders were placed until December 2013, first deliveries within one year, final deliveries in 2014. In October 2016, the FMTV contract was however extended to August 2019, allowing continued procurement, while the Army submitted a new competition for proposals for the FMTV A2 rebuy competition.

January 2017:

The First export customer this year was Israel, which MoD ordered 200 FMTVs from Oshkosh under a $200 million contract. Deliveries were planned from 2017 to mid-2018. Additional orders were optioned. Oshkosh confirmed its own deliveries from 2010, over 24,500 FMTV trucks and 11,400 FMTV trailers. With BAE numbers, the FMTV was now topping at 100,000 with the older deliveries by Stewart & Stevenson. This certainly was a milestone.

21 September 2017:

The U.S. Army administrative modification to the FMTV A1P2 requirements concerned Oshkosh. There were a 8, 9, 10th Order Years within a new contract valued at $466 million, and enabling future orders under the FMTV A1P2 contract from August 2019 and extension before closing out production of the FMTV A1P2.

21 September 2017

: An order for 1,065 FMTVs (for $260.1 million) was awarded under Order Year 8, in the latest contract extension. On 27 September a second order for Year 8 for an extra 148 FMTVs ($36 million) was announced with Oshkosh cinforming the delivery of 36,200 FMTV trucks and trailers. By November 2017, Oshkosh announced the delivery of its 25,000th FMTV truck and by June 2018, announced obtaining four additional orders (771 FMTV A1P2s) for $159.6 million.

February 2019

: The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) placed orders for 354 FMTV A1P2 trucks and trailers ($75 million). By February, total deliveries by Oshkosh amounted to 38,100 FMTVs since the initial A1P2 contract. By June 2019, the DoD awarded Oshkosh $320,000,000 for modification to domestic and Foreign Military Sales, enabling the sale to Argentina, Djibouti, Iraq, Lebanon, Romania, that were all interested. Estimated completion date is August 2021. This enabled Oshkosh to keep its factories running for years after the theoretical termination of the contract in 1919. In August 2021, Oshkosh confirmed its 40,500 A1P2 system delivered. Many FMTVs were stockpiled at the Red River Army Depot, on return from deployed operations. More dates to come as the program is likely to evolve.

Design of the M1083 6x6 MTV

The M1083 is the best known of the family, largest production, but sine the programme is based on common chassis and characteristics, it's useful to distinguish between the two main lineages:
-The 2.5-ton (4×4) FMTV is designated "Light Medium Tactical Vehicle" (LMTV).
-The 5-ton (6×6) is designated the Medium Tactical Vehicle (MTV).

Common caracteristics

Both FMTV types are based on the very same chassis, the Austrian Steyr 12 M 18 (4×4) truck. It was gradually modified by the initial contractor to meet a minimum of 50% domestic US content. The original 15 prototypes were assembled in Austria in the late 1980s, based on the 12 M 18 chassis-cab and already using a lot US-supplied and specified components like a Caterpillar diesel engine, the usual Allison automatic transmission, and Meritor drive axles. The great novelty compared to previous US truck designs, inherited from WW2, was a switch to the cab over engine (COE) design.

It was selected for the FMTV as less bulky, simpler to manufacture, and easier to protect with add-on armour. Indeed, the US Army did not specify a COE configuration. During the Cold War already overall length for shipboard transport was taken into consideration. The shorter the vehicle, the better. It also became more interesting for air and sea logistics as well as train transport. Plus COE designs were the norm in Western Europe notably in Germany, with the well-known MAN trucks being the finest representations of the type. Steyr was also a specialist of COE trucks.

Construction

The chassis and cab features extensive corrosion protection. This was the first truck to pass the US Army's 22-year accelerated corrosion test. Its design constantly evolved to increase reliability and the cab'sinterior refined its user-friendliness or its operational flexibility overall. Detailed refinements and upgrades were programmed and applied all along Oshkosh and its predecessor's production run. The chassis is a conventional bolted and Huck-bolted, ladder type with cold-formed C-sections and bolted-in tubular cross-members. It uses an high-grade 758 MPa steel sourced from Sweden. LMTV variants could receive a DP-10J winch capable of pulling 11,000 lb. The M1083 and other 6x6 MTV variants are using the optional DP-515 winch with a 15,500 lbs. line pull.

In both cases, the design of the cab is the same. The cabin has sloped sides and front, with provisions for bolted-on add-on armour panel. The upper front frame supporting a split windscreen with top-mounted wipers. There is an anti-sunray coating but no sun visor or physical anti-sunrays protection. The front windshields are made or doubledj reinforced glass that can absorb the impact of a small rock, but not a bullet. For this, add-on panels are to be fitted. Same for potential mesh. The side windows are sliding forward in two sections. The cab comprises a dedicated, semi-suspended driver's seat and a bank large enough for two, also suspended for better mine and IED protection. The underside of the rotating cab is also protected by a thicker V-shaped belly.

The crew can access the vehicle via a retractable step, then a classic step, and a door handle located at the foot of the door. Inside, there is another step and internal handles. The nose radiator grille is almost an afterthough. The robust military type bumber integrates four lights, two main civilian rated road lights (classic and xenon on later models) as well as two blakout lights. In the middle, the bumper is recessed to access the main winch hook, if present. There are two heavy duty hooks attached dorectly to the chassis for self-unditching or pulling another vehicle. For maintenance and repairs, the cab is the tilting forward type.

After the high exhaust system of the engine for deep fording, spare wheel, and utility bins behind the cab is located the flatbed. It is made of fixed sides, albeit the rear section could be modified into a tilting bin conversion. The rear panel is folding down. There are add-on walls, to prevent stacked payload to slip outside, and better protect from the elements the seated troops inside (18 on average), if used as troop truck. Military grade tooling and a fuel tank are present on the undersides. The roadhweels and most items are common to the 4x4 and 6x6. There are a few changes between vehicles in the dashboard, reflecting the 4x4 or 6x6 configuration. These trucks also have the same folding frame-mounted rear mirrors. They could receive extra roof lights.

Speaking of the roof, they are fitted with one optional ring-mounted gun position, in which the gunner is standing. The LTV and MTV could be both armoured, with bolted-on panels from BAE systems. They are intended to stop 7.62 to 8mm AP bullets, fitted on the nose, upper and lower section and sides, with the moderate slope helping in the protection. There are not smoke projectors however, and no NBC protection, apart in some dedicated vehicles. There is however an automatic fire suppressor in the engine. A climatizer could be installed as well, ran by an electric system or by the engine to spare the battery. Such systems were fitted with the all FMTB deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. On this chapter, the LTV and MTVs are unarmed, but for personal weapons on board.

Powerplant & Mobility

Current production A1P2s uses the same 2007 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions-compliant 7.2-liter six-cylinder Caterpillar C7 diesel engine whatever the configuration. It is rated for 275 hp, but producing a 860 Lb.-Ft. torque for the LMTV and 330 hp as well as 860 Lb-Ft.torque for the 6x6 MTV variants. The FMTV A1Rs are compliant with the 2004 EPA emissions, without output loss.

FMTV A1 were also compliant 1998 EPA when using the 3126 ATAAC, rated for 275 hp at 2,400 rpm for 815 Lb.-Ft.torque at 1,600 rpm (LMTV variants). The 6x6 MTV goes with the 330 hp and 850 Lb.-Ft.torque. The 3116 ATAAC is featured on the A0A sub-branch. It is a 6.6-liter derivative producing 225 hp and 735 Lb.-Ft. torque (LMTV) or 290 hp at 2,600 rpm and 860 Lb.-Ft. torque (MTV) including the M1083.

In all cases, it is doubled with an Allison 3070 SP 7-speed automatic transmission. It is common to the A1P2 and A1R FMTVs evolved. The name changes, on FMTV A1 it is the MD 3070 PT, for A0 "MD-D7". It features and integral single-speed transfer case, and all-wheel drive, full-time, 30/70% front/rear torque split on-road, 50/50% split off-road. All also features the Meritor beam axles, with ratings and specifications following the same developement if the vehicle. The vehicle is suspened by a combination of parabolic tapered leaf springs, inverted on the MTV rear bogie, shock absorbers, plus an anti-roll bar for the rear axle/bogie.

Tactical Mobility

Indeed, as tactical mobility goes, the baseline LMTV 4x4 and 6x6 MTV only diverged by 3 ft in lenght. They were much shorter than their bonneted predecessors, and retaining a C-130 Hercules transport capability. The C-130 transportable are called "GVWR" and models capable of being carried underslung by helicopter could received a sliding outrigger system. They were also tested and made compatible with the Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System (LAPES), and later the Low-Velocity Air Drop (LVAD) with variants of A0 LMTV (M1081 cargo) and MTV (M1093 cargo and M1094 dump) produced for such occurence. The 6x6 trucks needs larger carriers, of the C-17 Globemaster class for example, and are compatible with the European Airbus A400M.

The FMTV family is amphibious to a certain depth, it cannot float or swim, just cross without preparation water bodies up to 1 meter deep or 30 feet or more. The vehicles are also generally provided a cargo trailer, standardized across the FMTV range. The M1082 single-axle trailer is proper to LMTV whereas the M1095 twin-axle trailer is for the MTV. Both have payloads matching that of the towing truck so 2.5 and 5 tons. They shares many components and has the same axles as the towing truck to simplify repair and maintenance. 212 litres multifuel, 483 km

⚙ MTV M1083 specifications
Dimensions	7.272 x 2.438 x 2.83 m
Weight	11,28t (24,870 lbs) curb+ 4,5t (10,000 lbs) with payload
Payload	5 U.S. tons
Engine	Caterpillar C7, 7.2-l, 6-cyl. IWC diesel 330 hp (EPA 2007)
Transmission	Allison 3700 SP 7-speed auto, integral 1 speed transfer case
Suspensions	Parabolic tapered leaf springs, telescopic shock-absorbers, anti-roll bar
Steering	Power-assisted, front axle
Performances	Top speed 94 kph
Range
Protection	BAE Add-on a-kit/b-kit LTAS compliant
Tactical Mobility	Carried internally by C17

Variants

(To be completed)

Status

(To be completed)

Users

(To be completed)

Illustrations

Standard US Army Oshkosh M1083 A1P2 5-ton MTV with BAE a-kit


Ukrainian M1083 MTV


M1083 MTV towing a M777 Howitzer

Photos

M1083 Profile (CC)

Read More/Src

2012 US Army Weapon System Handbook (B&W)
warwheels.net M1083 MTV
odin.tradoc.army.mil
Manual
Manual
Manual
en.wikipedia.org

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