On 28 November, Oshkosh Defense announced that the U.S. Army has placed a $1.69 billion order for 6,107 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) and associated installed and packaged kits.
According to the company, delivery order marks the tenth order under the contract that was awarded to Oshkosh in August 2015.
“The JLTV is engineered with industry leading suspension and protection systems, as well as the ability to support a spectrum of mission kits and weapon systems required for the modern battlefield,” said George Mansfield, Vice President and General Manager of Joint Programs at Oshkosh Defense. “This vehicle represents a technological leap forward that provides enhanced protection and extreme mobility both off-road and in dense urban terrain.”
The JLTV is the newest vehicle to enter the Army’s fleet. The JLTV will replace most Army Humvees with four mission packages configurations including general purpose, heavy gun carrier, close combat weapons carrier and a utility vehicle. The vehicle will not replace specialty Humvees such as those with snow plows.
The JLTV will support a two- or four-man crew plus gunner, similar to the Humvee. In addition, it increases the protection for that crew. This protection is similar to that provided by the mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicle, however the JLTV is approximately two-thirds the weight, improving mobility and transportability.
Additionally, the JLTV payload capacity can range from 3,500 to 5,100 pounds without losing protection or mobility. It also offers greater speed over terrain, acceleration, reliability and fuel efficiency when compared to the Humvee.
To date, Oshkosh has delivered more than 2,600 vehicles. Oshkosh expects a Full Rate Production (FRP) decision in December 2018, followed by first Army unit equipped in early 2019.
“The JLTV also features a VICTORY compliant modular, scalable, open architecture system to support rapidly evolving C4ISR suites,” Mansfield continued. “This provides our Soldiers and Marines a vehicle that is capable of serving as a mobile command center. Today, other vehicles with this level of C4ISR capability are much larger, with little mobility.”
The JLTV fills a critical capability gap for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps by replacing a large portion of the legacy uparmored HMMWV fleet with a modern light protected vehicle.