The U.S. Army awarded Oshkosh Defense a five-year contract to rework a fleet of heavy tactical vehicles. The Army contract, potentially worth $780 million, would compel Oshkosh Defense to "recapitalize" its Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles about 1,800 total. Because the heavy fleet is the logistics backbone for a spectrum of operations, Oshkosh has worked with the Army to restore more than 12,000 heavy vehicles since 1995 providing soldiers with the latest safety features and improved reliability for in-theater operations," said, Senior Vice President of defense programs at Oshkosh Defense.

The company under the contract would bring the Army`s armada of Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks, or HEMTTs and Palletized Load Systems, or PLS, to the same condition as new vehicles. The vehicles would be returned to Oshkosh, stripped and rebuilt to "like-new" condition. The vehicles would be outfitted with the latest safety and technology upgrades. New improvements include air-conditioned cabs and anti-lock brakes. Another Army contract signed in early June requires the company to "reset" 360 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles, or M-ATVs. In total, Oshkosh Defense is under contract to renew 1,160 M-ATVs a combined value of more than $115 million.

The company has hired back about 400 workers since the Army in December awarded Oshkosh Defense two contracts worth about $100 million total. Last October the company announced it would lay off about 300 hourly workers and 70 salaried workers. Oshkosh Corp. is competing for a multi-billion-dollar contract to build 50,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles for the Army, and another 5,000 for the Marines. Each vehicle is worth about $250,000. Maryland-based Lockheed Martin and Indiana-based AM General also are competing for the JLTV contract.