MARCH 7, 2019, Camp Pendleton, CA – Program Executive Officer Land Systems fielded its first Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to Marines at School of Infantry West during a ribbon cutting ceremony on Feb. 28, at Camp Pendleton, California. Andrew Rodgers, program manager for the Light Tactical Vehicles program at PEO Land Systems, presented the Corps’ first JLTV to Col. Kyle Stoddard, commanding officer at SOI-West.
“This begins the fielding of 55 JLTVs to supporting units throughout the east and west coast, as well as Quantico, Virginia, and Camp Johnson, North Carolina,” said Rodgers during the event. “Over the next three to four years, we will increase our production rates and have 5,500 JLTVs fielded by the end of 2023. By the end of 2026, we will have 9,091 JLTVs fielded.”
The JLTVs are intended to replace the Corps’ legacy fleet of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles in a one-for-one swap. Last week’s handover marked the first of 55 vehicles that will be headed to Marines in supporting units at SOI-West, SOI-East, The Basic School at Quantico and the Motor Transport Maintenance Instructional Company at Camp Johnson through the end of May, said Rodgers.
“The HMMWV was first fielded to the Marine Corps in 1984 with 1970s technology,” said Rodgers. “It did a great job, and achieved its mission in the 80s and 90s, and got us through the first couple of years when [Operation Iraqi Freedom] and [Operation Enduring Freedom] started. But, the changing of the battlefield, and the requirement to have an armored capability with an engine that could carry additional weight necessitated the need for the JLTV, which will carry us through the 21st century.”
As previously reported, the JLTV family of vehicles comes in different variants—general purpose, heavy guns carrier, utility, and close combat weapons carrier—all providing protected, sustained, networked mobility that balances payload, performance and protection across the full range of military operations.
PEO Land Systems plans to start fielding the JLTV to operating forces this summer, starting with 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Operational infantry battalions with I Marine Expeditionary Force and III MEF will start receiving the JLTV in September 2019.
Story by Ashley Calingo
Marine Corps Systems Command