WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has placed a new $127 million order for 248 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles from Oshkosh, the company announced Wednesday.
The award would provide JLTVs for the U.S. Army, Marine Corps and State Department.
“The JLTV was designed to provide our troops with unmatched mission capabilities,” George Mansfield, vice president and general manager of joint programs for Oshkosh Defense, said in a statement. “And while adversaries, terrains, and tactics have all evolved immensely since the vehicle’s conception, the JLTV’s flexible design allows the light tactical vehicle fleet to evolve at a similar pace.”
This contract is the third order placed in the last seven months for JLTV production. A $407.3 million package for 1,240 vehicles to the U.S. Marine Corps, Slovenia and Lithuania was awarded in February. In December, the company received a $803.9 million award for 2,721 vehicles for the American military and ally Montenegro.
Oshkosh beat out Humvee-maker AM General and Lockheed Martin in 2015 to build the replacement for the Humvee for both the Army and the Marine Corps. The low-rate initial production contract was worth $6.7 billion, and the entire program is estimated to be worth $30 billion through 2024.
Since a production contract was awarded in 2015, Oshkosh says it has delivered 7,500 total vehicles to the U.S. and partners abroad.
In its fiscal 2021 budget request, the Army asked for $894.4 million to buy 1,920 JLTVs. However, that number is down from what had initially been projected by the service; as part of the “night court” process, designed to reprioritize the service’s investments and projects, the Army is stretching its planned JLTV buy out in order to reinvest dollars to modernization priorities.
Jen Judson in Washington contributed to this report.
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
