Everything that is born has to die and that applies to war combat vehicles too. Humvee, the iconic vehicle that entered service in 1985, is on its way to retirement and the one that will take its place is the Oshkosh Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle. The Pentagon declared Oshkosh Defence as the winner of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), after nine years of competition. Oshkosh beat AM General and Lockheed Martin. Humvee belonged to AM General. The JLTV program is a joint U.S. Army/Marines initiative to develop a replacement for the Humvee that began in 2006.

The conditions for the JLTV vehicle were that it could be easily maintained, reliable and able to be transported easily. In addition to all these the main requisite was that it should be able to perform in all types of terrain. Under the JLTV programme, two types of vehicles will be produced; a four-passenger Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) and a two-passenger Combat Support Vehicle (CSV).

The Pentagon’s initial contract is for $6.7 Billion and 17,000 vehicles, which is expected to continue after the first production run is completed. Foxtrot Alpha notes the JLTV contract is expected to be worth $30 Billion with over 54,000 vehicles produced over the next few decades. Over 280,000 Humvees have been built to date, so it’ll be quite some time before the Oshkosh L-ATV fully replaces them.

Regarding the reasons for this change, Humvee ofcourse provided reliable services for quite a long time but it lagged behind in speed and safety. In addition, the nature of war has changed drastically over the past 20 years, requiring a new kind of Light Tactical Vehicle. The Oshkosh people highlighted their strengths in a press release as: “Our JLTV has been extensively tested and is proven to provide the ballistic protection of a light tank, the underbody protection of an MRAP-class vehicle, and the off-road mobility of a Baja racer.

The Oshkosh JLTV allows troops to travel over rugged terrain at speeds 70% faster than today’s gold standard, which is our Oshkosh M-ATV. Looking to future battlefields, we know that our troops will face a myriad of threats. Soldiers and Marines can be assured that the highly capable Oshkosh JLTV will perform the mission.”

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Author:Technology Blog