
Over the past several years the U.S. Army has been leading the effort to replace some of the light tactical wheeled vehicles in each of the different services. One of these efforts is the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). The JLTV is a family of vehicles that consists of several variants. One variant is a four-seat Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) and another is a two-seat Combat Support Vehicle (CSV). There are numerous other varients of the JLTV as well. However, the JLTV program may very likely be cancelled or drastically reduced.
On May 1, 2025, the Department of Army published a letter that stated it will cancel the procurement of excess ground vehicles; including the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), and other “outdated” or “excess” equipment. The letter issued by the Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and the Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George was entitled “Letter to the Force: Army Transformation Initiative”. In the opening paragraph the letter notes that autonomous systems are becoming more lethal and less expensive; sensors and decoys are abundant, and that modern warfare is rapidly changing due to technology. It continues with “To maintain our edge on the battlefield, our Army will transform to a leaner, more lethal force by adapting how we fight, train, organize, and buy equipment.”
The JLTV has been under development since 2015 but the full-rate production of the JLTV had some delays. The intial contract was for 20,682 JLTVs and 9,883 JLTV trailers. Over 20,000 JLTVs have been delivered to the Army and Marine Corps. Other nations that have purchased the vehicle include the UK, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Israel, and Montenegro.
The JLTV program was expected to provide 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.
The JLTV is transportable by fixed-wing (C-130) and rotary-wing aircraft (CH-47 and CH-53). It is able to maneuver across a wide sprectrum of terrain to include urban areas. It has protection against direct fire and improvised device threats with scalable armor. The JLTV has joint forces network connectivity to improve situational awareness of the operational environment.
Selected special operations forces (SOF) have taken delivery of the JLTV. The vehicle was exhibited by Oshkosh Corporation at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa, Florida in May 2019. One USSOCOM spokesman stated that “The JLTV will be one of SOCOM’s newer vehicles and will be a workhorse in the fleet” (National Defense, April 19, 2022). By 2023 the JLTV was being introduced to some Special Forces Groups (DVIDS, April 14, 2023).
There are some questions about how many more JLTVs will be produced and delivered. It is unknown what the future of the JLTV will be for U.S. special operations forces. These are issues that have not yet been decided or at least not yet publically known. As time goes on we will learn more about the uncertain future of the JLTV and how it affects the SOF community.
*********
Photo: United States Army Acquisition Support Center (USAASC).
References:
“Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)”, Congressional Research Service (CRS), May 14, 2025.
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11729
“Joint Light Tactical Vehicle”, WikipediA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Light_Tactical_Vehicle