Why the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is a leader in the field

Shephard Defence Insight notes a that 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, as the US Navy (USN) receives vehicles and 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.

With AM General taking over from Oshkosh as manufacturer of choice for US forces while Oshkosh continues to pursue export opportunities 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 $12 billion to build more of almost precisely the same type 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 including a November 2018 order worth $1.7 billion for 6,107 JLTVs as well as equipment and subsystems, and a DoD contract of $911 million in November 2020 that also included $23 million for the production of 59 JLTVs for Brazil, Lithuania and North Macedonia.

Source: Shephard Defence Insight (data correct as of December 2023)

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 has 150 JLTVs and  has another 350 on the way. (Photo: Lithuania MoD)

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

In November Oshkosh received a US$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 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 IEDs 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 NLoS missile where the vehicle was modified to carry a six-launch module with sensors mounted at the rear.

JLTV has been equipped to operate Uvision's Hero-120 tactical loitering munition. (Photo: Oshkosh)

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 this year, 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 AM General production line should be ready soon and is likely to be near the company’s Humvee line with the first JLTV expected to roll off it in the middle of next year. The new version will be 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 and while AM General gets on with the job, Oshkosh has stated it ‘can continue to sell JLTV A1 vehicles via FMS or direct commercial sale, can deliver vehicles through September 2025 [and] the current backlog calls for production through 2024’.

This article was originally published on 5 September 2023 and updated on 18 January 2024.

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