US Military buying 55,000 Oshkosh L-ATV's for protection of light tank and MRAP but half MRAP weight and more mobility
Oshkosh Defense was awarded a $6.7 billion contract, Aug. 25, for production of the joint light tactical vehicle, or JLTV. Col. John Cavedo, the former JLTV program manager, said the average unit procurement cost will be below the original $399,000 acquisition report, when all the kits are included, in base year 2012 dollars. The average manufacturing cost per vehicle, minus kits and add-ons, will actually be below $250,000.
Oshkosh's L-ATV will deliver a level of protection similar to that of current, but far heavier and less maneuverable, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) class designs, these having far more protection from blast than even the latest up-armored HMMWVs.
The first JLTVs will be fielded to the Army in fiscal 2018, Davis said.
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 the Oshkosh M-ATV.
Up armored Humvees cost about $220,000 and weight about 2.6 tons. 280,000 Humvees were built.
The Oshkosh Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle will weigh about 6.4 tons and might cost less than $250,000
MRAPs weight 12-25 tons and cost $400,000 to 600,000
The gap in today's lightweight vehicle capabilities has meant that commanders often have to choose their vehicles based on payload, performance and protection. The JLTV balances those three things.
The JLTV will provide similar protection to one of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected, or MRAP, vehicles - the MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle, known as the M-ATV, which was also developed by Oshkosh Corp.
The JLTV will have protection substantially greater than the Humvee, Davis said. The JLTV will provide this protection with only about two-thirds the weight of the M-ATV, he said, which improves mobility and transportability.
Other advantages over the Humvee, he said, are reliability, payload capacity and ease of repair.
The JLTV can be transported by CH-47 Chinook and CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters as well as amphibious transport, Davis said. M-ATVs cannot be transported in this fashion.
The Oshkosh M-ATV (MRAP – All-Terrain Vehicle), which was procured primarily for Afghanistan where the earlier and bigger/heavier MRAPs had mobility issues, has protection comparable to the original MRAP designs but while smaller it still remains a relatively large vehicle. During the L-ATV design process, every component was optimized for survivability, resulting in the same level of protection in a vehicle 30 percent smaller. This resulted in a curb weight for the JLTV requirement of 14,000 lb (6,400 kg), this almost one third the weight of the heavier MRAP (4x4) models, and almost half the weight of the original MRAP models. Payload allowance for JLTV in Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) configuration is four passengers and 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) of cargo, and in Combat Support Vehicle (CSV) configuration is two passengers and 5,100 lb (2,300 kg) of cargo.
The base L-ATV is not fitted with armament, however, it may be fitted with a selection of weapons including light, medium and heavy machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, or anti-tank guided weapon(ATGW) missiles depending on user requirements. The weapons can be operated from ring mounts or a remote weapon station. Smoke grenade launchers for self-defence can also be fitted if required.
