The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle continues its success as the new variant rolls out

Shephard Defence Insight notes that a range of European countries such as Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the UK, as well as Brazil, have signed deals, begun to take deliveries or to kick the JLTV’s tyres. All this is has been occurring as the US Navy (USN) receives vehicles and the US Air Force (USAF) considers its options.

The vehicle type is set to become as iconic as its predecessor, a heads up to all and sundry that US boots – or those of its allies and customers – are in town and on the ground. All for a vehicle which first rolled off the production line less than a decade ago.

While AM General has taken over from Oshkosh as manufacturer of choice for US forces, Oshkosh has continued to pursue export opportunities, meaning there will likely be a period of time when both companies will be rolling vehicles off the production line.

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Oshkosh wins first contract

In 2015 Oshkosh's Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle was selected for JLTV and in June 2023 the company announced it had built the 20,000^th vehicle.

Oshkosh, AM General and others stepped into ring again to fight for a recompete which was announced by the US Army in October 2021. The deal had a potential sticker price of up to US$12 billion to build more of the type, with about 200 changes, as the US Army holds the technical data package.

In February 2023 it was announced that a previous losing bidder and maker of the original Humvee, AM General, had been selected. The prize was a contract award of $8.7 billion covering trailers and other support and as many as 20,682 vehicles with orders stretching out as far as 2033.

After Oshkosh’s original 2015 win it began to receive regular lot production contracts. This included a November 2018 order worth $1.7 billion for 6,107 JLTVs as well as equipment and subsystems, and a Department of Defense contract of $911 million in November 2020 that also included $23 million for the production of 59 JLTVs for Brazil, Lithuania and North Macedonia.

As European countries queued up to place orders or take a test drive, one of the more interesting buyers was Brazil, the only customer so far outside the northern hemisphere. The order comprises a dozen vehicles for the Brazilian Marine Corps to support overseas peacekeeping mission and amphibious operations.

Although Brazil is spending approximately $337,000 per vehicle, the total value of the contract is $15.2 million, as it also includes an integrated logistics support package from Oshkosh.

An initial batch was delivered in 2023 and this was expected to be followed by two vehicles per year until 2026 but this may be extended. All 12 of these JLTVs will be configured as A1 Heavy Gun Carriers (HGCs).

Slovakia is set to become one of the larger non-US operators following a July 2023 order for 160 of the type via FMS with deliveries expected to occur in 2025.

The deal includes two M1278A1/A2 HGC variants, one equipped with the M153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) with display and control panels, and the other with the Manned Top Gunner Turret, as well as logistical support.

Romania joined the one-hundred-plus club in March 2023 when it put its hand up for additional HGC variants, taking its order from 34 of the type to 129 as part of an effort to replace its Humvees.

Lithuania is an enthusiastic customer, having ordered 200 vehicles in 2019, most of which have been delivered, and in 2024 began receiving an additional 300 vehicles under a 2022 deal. The country received its third batch of 50 first-order vehicles in May 2023 and received the last of this order in 2024.

In November 2023 Oshkosh received a $208 million order for vehicles, trailers and associated packaged and installed kits for the US Army, USMC and USAF which could be for as many as 700 vehicles.

Later the same month Oshkosh Defense announced it would provide JLTVs to North Macedonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Mongolia under a $160 million agreement which is expected to run until October 2025, with Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan as contracting activity.

In December 2023 the Israeli Ministry of Defence has ordered two batches of Oshkosh JLTVs, one batch via Foreign Military Sale and the other batch via Direct Commercial Sale, totalling 75 vehicles.

These contracts will take the Oshkosh production line out towards the end of 2025.

How well protected is the JLTV?

The JLTV provides MRAP-level protection against improvised explosive devices and other battlefield threats, with an armoured capsule optimised for protection, weight and mobility, and which allows the vehicle to be modified to meet changing operational requirements.

The vehicle is designed to adapt and be adapted, to be able to take additional armour or, as Oshkosh has demonstrated from its own funds, meet different requirements such as a C2 vehicle, launcher for loitering munitions or a mortar carrier.

The C2 version, for example, includes an armoured shelter on the rear which has the same level of protection as the rest of the vehicle and the loitering munitions version is integrated with the Uvision Hero-120 tactical system. For a bigger punch, in July 2021 Oshkosh and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems test-fired a Spike non-line-of-sight missile where the vehicle was modified to carry a six-launch module with sensors mounted at the rear.

Additionally, Oshkosh developed a hybrid-electric JLTV, not to meet a particular requirement but in response to the US military exploring the operational advantages offered by new power technologies.

After employing the technology for the US military on heavy and medium-duty tactical vehicles, the company unveiled its hybrid-electric JLTV in January 2022. Called eJLTV, it provides silent drive, extended silent watch and exportable power that enables the vehicle to be used in combat and on reconnaissance missions.

Oshkosh notes that eJLTV is “not a programme of record but is an innovative technology upgrade to the JLTV platform that is not currently part of the JLTV contracts”.

Will JLTV be recompeted again?

Following the selection of AM General, Oshkosh lodged an appeal with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) but this objection was knocked back. The GAO said “that any judgments made were consistent with and adequately supported by the content provided in written proposals or observed”.

The new version is largely similar to the Oshkosh product but will have an improved powertrain, more storage, reduced noise levels and better fuel efficiency.

Further down the line there could yet be another recompete for manufacture but even before that, the two companies could be going toe-to-toe with their vehicle types to meet the British Army's light protected vehicle requirement within its Land Mobility Programme.

AM General have publicly declared they are on the hunt for local partners and Oshkosh Defence, which already has a small number of vehicles in service with British special forces, is also known to be talking to UK-based companies.

The local content factor or the involvement of British companies is likely to be very important as the current UK Government has tied defence and security to economic development more vocally and stridently than the previous government.

JLTV A2 appears and talk begins of a JLTV A3

The first sight of a JLTV A2 was at AUSA in October 2024, which was more of a modified A1, with the big reveal at IDEX in Abu Dhabi in February this year.

There had been fears that the AM General vehicles would be late in delivery John Chadbourne, the company’s executive VP – government relations. said vehicles would be fielded next year.

“We’re in production now, and we’re going to produce, and we’ll be ready to meet the fielding schedule in 2026, the soldiers and the marines are going to get it in 2026,” Chadbourne said.

“We can ramp up production but we would need our suppliers to do so too and that can be challenging. Additionally, we want to improve our supply chain to add redundancy in case of catastrophic events but also to create competition and value.”

The stalls had barely been pulled down at IDEX when Mark McCoy, project manager, Joint Program Office JLTV Program Executive Office – Combat Support and Combat Service Support, suggested a JLTV A3 was on the horizon.

It was reported by Inside Defence that the upgraded vehicle will have a different engine, improved shocks and a new software system, raising questions about what this means for the JLTV A2.

Even as this new generation comes of the line and fresh talk of a third generation, there remains one dark cloud.

In December 2024, the US Congress has reduced the resources allocated for acquiring JLTV in FY2025. The cuts included in the recently approved National Defence Appropriations Act (NDAA) affect the procurement budget of the US Army and the USMC and might impact future purchases of this platform.

The army requested nearly $655 million to purchase 1,808 JLTV trucks and trailers in 2025 but the US Congress authorised less than $535 million for the programme.

The $120 million cut represents nearly 20% less than the branch planned to invest in this effort and this could result in a reduction of over 360 vehicles.

This article was originally published on 5 September 2023 and updated on 20 March 2025.

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