Image courtesy of Mack Defense.
When the U.S. Army announced that they were accepting bids for their Common Tactical Truck Program (CTT), Mack Defense didn’t hesitate to take up the call to arms. Fully supported by Mack Trucks and the Volvo Group, Mack Defense has all the expertise required in-house. From design to deployment, Mack Defense is ready to win the CTT prototype contract.
Mack Defense President and CEO Dave Hartzell.
Mack Trucks has been building military vehicles since 1916 and earned its bulldog moniker from the British soldiers for the AC model’s tenacity on the battlefields of Europe. That heritage lived on in various civilian and military contracts throughout Mack’s history. In 2012, Mack Defense, LLC was created specifically to compete for programs like CTT.
Since inception, Mack Defense has met the strict requirements of the military and has delivered vehicles to both the U.S. and Canadian armed forces. Its current project, supplying M917A3 Heavy Dump Trucks (HDTs) to the U.S. armed forces, is the latest proof point of how Mack Defense modifies a commercially available product to meet the demanding needs of the military. It is logical, then, that Mack Defense is submitting a bid to be considered for the U.S. Army’s Common Tactical Truck (CTT) program.
The CTT program will replace the Army’s fleet of heavy tactical trucks that perform a wide range of combat service-support missions. Contested logistics on the future battlefield demand a new generation of tactical trucks that feature advanced technologies coupled with tactical mobility. In addition to being based on a commercially available platform, the CTT program also requires advanced driver safety systems, increased off-road mobility, fuel efficiency and advanced cybersecurity.
Additional requirements for the CTT program also dictate that the winning company has a global supply chain network and product commonality bringing commercial industry economy of scale, investment in technology development and value to the Army.
Mack Defense, together with ARQUUS and Volvo Defense, form the Volvo Group’s military sales operations. The military sales teams cooperate globally with each other and with the commercial Volvo, Renault and Volvo truck teams.
With this global cooperation, the product lines and operations amongst divisions can be shared in efforts to continually improve customer satisfaction and support, including a global supply chain, modular platforms and what Volvo Group calls Common Architecture & Shared Technology (CAST). CAST develops a competitive set of modular vehicle platform designs, powertrain solutions and vehicle electronic system architectures that are easy to scale and integrate, and address future legal, market and societal needs, while designed to meet and exceed customer expectations around the globe.
During the initial phase of the CTT program, the Army intends to evaluate engineering designs and prototypes from multiple vendors to determine the final requirements. This will likely lead to another competitive phase for an eventual production contract. The initial production contract could amount to about 7,200 trucks valued at more than $5.1 billion. Three to five manufacturers for the CTT prototype phase could receive contract awards as early as December 2022.
By leveraging the Volvo Group’s vast global strengths and capabilities, Mack Defense is uniquely qualified to meet the requirements of the CTT program and apply its expertise gained through its leadership in the rapidly advancing fields of driver safety systems, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomy, improved fuel economy, vehicle electrification, off-road mobility and predictive maintenance.
Vertically Integrated Class 8 Truck Manufacturer and Part of a Global Organization
Mack Defense is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mack Trucks, part of the Volvo Group. Mack Trucks is vertically integrated with its own trucks and engines produced in the U.S. Our engine and transmission facility is based in Hagerstown, Maryland. The Mack Trucks and Mack Defense assembly plants are located in the Allentown, Pennsylvania, area.
The Volvo Group is one of the world’s largest commercial truck manufacturers which includes Volvo-, Renault- and Mack-branded vehicles. The global organization manufactures heavy trucks in 19 countries, has operations in 36 countries and services customers worldwide with global parts and service logistics capabilities.
The Volvo Group is also a leader in advanced vehicle-safety technologies, diesel engine design and advanced powertrains, such as battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell. That means there’s barely a place on Earth where Mack Defense or its partners can’t service the CTT truck for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Current Supplier to the U.S. and Canadian Military
Mack Defense is currently performing two major defense programs of record, each with a scope that directly aligns with the CTT program. Both projects use modified commercial-based vehicles from the extensive global Volvo Group network with a proven design.
The U.S. Army’s M917A3 Heavy Duty Dump Truck is a program of record that Mack Defense is now executing.
The first is the U.S. Army’s M917A3 Heavy Duty Dump Truck (HDT). The M917A3 HDT is based on the commercial Mack Granite model. Mack was awarded the contract in 2018. Mack Defense modified its commercial Mack Granite to meet specific military requirements, including all-wheel drive, replaceable armored cab, lift and tie downs and integration of C4ISR in the cab. The 27-ton 8-by-8 dump truck also shares major components from the commercial Mack Granite model, including the powertrain solution, frame design, non-armored cab and electronic system.
Mack Defense conducted more than two years of testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground to validate that the HDT met all program requirements. Serial production of the M917A3 HDT was started in 2021 with an initial order of 155 units, followed by a second order for another 144 units. Mack Defense met all contract deliverables and is expecting new FY23 orders.
Another active program that Mack Defense is executing is the Canadian Department of National Defense Medium Support Vehicle System–Standard Military Pattern.
The second active defense program is the Canadian Department of National Defense Medium Support Vehicle System–Standard Military Pattern (MSVS-SMP). For the MSVS-SMP program, Mack Defense chose to use the Renault Kerax for the base common commercial chassis, which was used to create a family of vehicles, including cargo with crane, LHS, troop carrier, gun tractor, Mobile Repair Truck, LHS trailer and armored cab for the Canadian military.
Mack Defense brought together expertise from the U.S., Canada and France to successfully deliver 1,587 vehicles during a five-year production contract from June 2015 to June 2020 and is currently in the third year of a 5-year post-delivery sustainment contract for the MSVS program which includes parts, field service, maintenance and repair.
For these reasons, and many more, Mack Defense is optimally positioned with a world-class team of Volvo Group resources and industry leading suppliers to design, develop and deliver the commercially based, low-risk, best value solution for the U.S. Army’s CTT prototype program.
