The U.S. Army is leading the effort to replace some of the light tactical wheeled vehicles in each of the different services. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is a family of vehicles that will consist of two variants. One will be a four-seat Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) and the other will be a two-seat Combat Support Vehicle (CSV).
The JLTV will be transportable by fixed-wing (C-130) and rotary-wing aircraft (CH-47 and CH-53). It will be able to maneuver across a wide sprectrum of terrain to include urban areas. It will have protection against direct fire and improvised device threats with scalable armor. The JLTV will have joint forces network connectivity to improve siutational awareness of the operational environment.
The JLTV has been under development since 2015 and should be entering into full-rate production in late 2022. The intial contract should be for 30,000 JLTVs and 10,000 JLTV trailers; although this could change. Some JLTVs from the intial development phase have been delivered to the Army and Marine Corps. Other nations that may be purchasing the vehicle include the UK, Lithuania, Poland, and Motenegro. The first Army unit to receive the JLTV is the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The JLTV provides greater protection and increased mobility and payload compared to the current armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle platforms. Its off-road mobility is improved as well as fuel efficiency and reliability over the Mine Resistant Ambush Proected All-Terrain Vehicles.
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Photo: United States Army Acquisition Support Center (USAASC).
