Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV): Background and Issues for Congress

Andrew Feickert
Specialist in Military Ground Forces

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is being developed by the Army and the Marine Corps as a successor to the 11 different versions of the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) that have been in service since 1985. On October 28, 2008, three awards were made for the JLTV Technology Development (TD) Phase, which is scheduled to conclude in the June 2011 timeframe to three industry teams: (1) BAE Systems, (2) the team of Lockheed Martin and General Tactical Vehicle, and (3) AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems. Once testing was completed and technology requirements established, a full and open competition was expected to be conducted in the late summer, 2011 for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) Phase and the Department of Defense (DOD) planned to award two contracts for the EMD phase, which was scheduled to last 24 months.

In February 2011, it was announced that the award of the EMD contract would be delayed until January 2012 because the Army changed requirements for the JLTV. DOD had planned to award two contracts for the EMD phase, which was scheduled to last 24 months, but instead proposed a 48-month-long EMD. In addition, the Category B variant was eliminated because it proved to be too heavy to meet the required transportability weight. Now there will be two variants—a Combat Tactical Vehicle (CTV) that can transport four passengers and carry 3,500 pounds and a Combat Support Vehicle (CSV) that can transport two passengers and carry 5,100 pounds.

The FY2012 Budget Request for JLTVs is $172.1 million for Army Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) and $71.8 million for Marine Corps RDT&E, for a program total of $243.9 million. The House Armed Services Committee has recommended decreased funding levels—$147.1 million for the Army and $46.8 million for the Marine Corps. The House Appropriations also recommended cutting Army and Marine Corps JLTV funding by $25 million for each service and using these funds for HMMWV survivability initiatives.

The Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee recommended terminating the JLTV program, noting “excessive cost growth, constantly changing requirements, and existing alternatives.” In response, Army and Marine leadership seemingly put aside past differences by relaxing transportability requirements and setting a goal for a lower per-unit cost of $225,000 per vehicle. In addition, the EMD phase would be cut by 16 months—now 32 months as opposed to the previous 48 months.

Potential issues for Congress include affordability of the JLTV in relation to HMMWV and MRAP and in the overall context of an anticipated “challenging economic environment.” Another concern is even though the Army and Marines have dropped some requirements to lower pervehicle costs, that requirement might be added in the future, driving up the program cost. The Army and Marines have both noted that, despite emphasis on recapitalizing HMMWVs and MRAPs in lieu of developing JLTVs, there are limitations concerning the degree to which these vehicles can be upgraded and still be operationally effective. Another possible issue for consideration is the new lower JLTV per-vehicle cost target might be close to that of recapitalized HMMWVs, bringing into question if it is better and more cost effective to procure “new” JLTVs versus “old” recapitalized HMMWVs .


Date of Report: October 17, 2011
Number of Pages: 17
Order Number: RS22942
Price: $29.95

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