What started as a defense-industry PR stunt at Lockheed Martin’s New York proving grounds ended with one overturned armored truck and three people in the hospital.
On Thursday, a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle driven by a TV reporter flipped during a media event meant to celebrate 50,000 miles of testing on LockMart’s four, seven-ton JLTV prototypes. Driver Neil St. Clair from Syracuse’s News 10 Now “walked away from the crash with only minor injuries,” the Star-Gazette newspaper said. “A photographer in the passenger seat and a Lockheed Martin test driver in the back also suffered only minor injuries.”
“Every PR rep’s nightmare,” is how Steve Trimble summed up the wreck.
Ares’ Paul McLeary also drove a JLTV at the event. He said the track “was muddy from earlier rains and boasts some tight turns, inclines, and a 60-degree drop that I, ah, struggled with during my turn behind the wheel. But flipping the truck seems like it would really have taken some work, since one of the engineers who drove us around first really pushed it around the course.” This weekend Lockheed said speed might have been a factor — although it’s not clear yet how fast St. Clair was going. The JLTV is reportedly rated for faster than 70 miles per hour.
Despite ordering thousands of blastproof M-ATV trucks for Afghanistan just a few weeks ago, the Pentagon is still mulling a separate purchase of JLTVs that could be worth tens of billions of dollars. The JLTV is meant as a tougher, more high-tech Humvee replacement, for places where a 30-ton MRAP and the 13-ton M-ATV are overkill.
Just don’t go too fast.
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