Ford to Make New Tactical Trucks for the U.S. Army

Ford has joined the race to make the U.S. Army’s newest tactical truck, it announced this week (The Wall Street Journal, subscription).

What’s going on: The news “comes as the Pentagon pushes automakers to put their manufacturing power toward modernizing and replenishing American military hardware.”

• The army, which confirmed on Monday that it had awarded contracts to Ford and General Motors and off-road vehicle maker BC Customs, wants about 600 of the vehicles.

What they’re building: Ford’s contract with the government will have the automaker “develop a trio of prototypes” based on its F-series pickup trucks.

• The army has said it needs a vehicle capable of charging drones and command-and-control systems while transporting troops over potentially rough terrain.
• While officials haven’t released an official price point for the trucks, a smaller one made by GM costs $330,000 each.

Why it’s happening: “Military leaders have been lobbying automakers and their suppliers to help scale up defense production and leverage the industry’s manufacturing capacity to meet crucial military shortages brought on by wars in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

• But Ford said this week that its commercially available trucks could also meet the military’s needs.

Not the first time: Ford supplied “Jeep-like” trucks to the U.S. military during the wars in Korea and Vietnam.