The Marine Corps has plans to buy almost double the number of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles it initially projected to replace a portion of its Humvee fleet.
While its program of record sits at 5,500 JLTVs, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller has his sights set on nearly 10,000 of the heavily armored trucks made by Oshkosh Defense [OSK], according to Andre Rodgers, the service’s light tactical vehicle program manager.
“The increases are based on funding available,” Rodgers said Wednesday at the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Conference outside Washington, D.C.
Given funding, the Marines may buy as many as 9,991 JLTVs, he said. Neller has directed the program to produce the trucks as fast as possible with available resources.
“They want to go there as quick as possible. Last time I spoke to the commandant of the Marine Corps, he said, ‘Get JLTVs out the door as quick as possible.’”
Oshkosh began delivering the first low-rate initial production JLTVs to the Army in late September and will continue delivery of groups of vehicles at the end of each month until production ramps up to full-rate. The Army plans to buy about 50,000 JLTVs. The Marine Corps will purchase another 5,500 of the small trucks.
For both services JLTV is the primary consumer of light tactical vehicle development and acquisition dollars. At least 64 percent of the Army’s transportation systems budget goes to the new truck, according to Scott Davis, the program executive officer for combat support and combat service support.
“How big of a deal is that? Well, it’s the same portfolio that all the lights, mediums, heavies, watercraft are part of,” Davis said. “So when we talk about keeping the force relevant and being more adept at force projection, all those systems contribute to that and there’s only a limited amount of money in that pie.”
Rodgers said the situation is the same for the Marine Corps, with JLTV consuming about half its light tactical vehicle fleet budget. That leaves scant resources for other modernization programs within the portfolio and leaves JLTV vulnerable should that line item be targeted for cuts in the upcoming fiscal 2018 budget, due out May 23, Rodgers said.
If its budget is cut, the projected increase to JLTV could be more modest, Rodgers said. Likely the program of record would swell to only about 7,000, but would not go below the current plan to buy 5,500, he said.
The Army also is considering increasing the number of JLTVs it plans to buy, according to recent Capitol Hill testimony by Army senior leaders. The service in 2018 will have to decide whether to buy more JLTVs or rehab a portion of its legacy Humvee fleet, Lt. Gen. John Murray, deputy chief of staff for financial management, Army G-8, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee airland subcommittee.
“We are going to have to make a decision on either we are going to have to buy more JLTVs to replace Humvees or we are going to have to start recapping the Humvee fleet we have,” Murray said.
Oshkosh has not had direct talks with the Army about increasing its JLTV buy, but Oshkosh has enough production capacity to provide what the Army needs, a company executive recently told Defense Daily.
“In the case of JLTV, should the Army decide in their requirements they would need more JLTVs, we would be able to support that,” he said.