Oshkosh Defense to build another 1,600 JLTVs for the Army

WASHINGTON: Oshkosh Defense won another $591 million task order to build 1,669 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, the Army announced last week.

Oshkosh has already built some 14,000 JLTVs for the US military, according to the company, but is eyeing a much larger contract the Army is preparing to recompete at the end of next year.

Under the new task order, the company will also build 868 companion trailers, and associated packaged and installed kits. The order also includes 125 vehicles set aside for allies and partners, including Brazil, Lithuania, Montenegro, and Slovenia.

“Integrated lethality on an agile and protected vehicle like the Oshkosh JLTV is quickly filling capability gaps that exist in many international militaries,” said John Lazar, vice president and general manager of international programs for Oshkosh Defense. “This past year, we’ve seen an increased interest in the Oshkosh JLTV from international customers with dynamic demonstrations and live fires across Europe with more planned for 2022.”

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Oshkosh won the JLTV contract in 2015, beating out AM General and Lockheed Martin. But the Army is in the process of preparing a new contract for the vehicle, with a new award expected in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.

According to industry day slides posted earlier this month, that contract is expected to be worth $6.5 billion and includes about 17,000 JLTVs and 10,000 trailers. Oshkosh expects to have a competitive bid due to the amount of vehicles it has built so far and its position as the contract incumbent.

“Our team takes great pride in designing and building a versatile platform that can survive the extreme demands of future combat,” said George Mansfield, vice president and general manager of joint programs for Oshkosh Defense. “That’s what we do and what we’ve been doing for decades. And Oshkosh’s vast tactical wheeled vehicle (TWV) experience, expertise and knowhow grows with every vehicle that comes off our production line.”

Despite the recent and upcoming contracts, in a recent quarterly earnings call in October, an Oshkosh executive said that the company expects its defense sector revenue to drop due to a slowdown JLTV buys from the Army. John Pfeifer, Oshkosh’s president and CEO, said on the call that the JLTV program is a good “base” business that could help the vehicle-maker win “adjacent” contracts.

“This JLTV program will go well into the 2040s, beyond 2040,” Pfeifer said. “That’s why I say this is a great base business. Now there’s going to be up years and there’s going to be down years based on presidential budgets and priorities and so forth and what’s happening around the world, but these are fundamental programs for the Army and the Marines to operate.”