Oshkosh Defense carried out mobility tests at the Belgian Land Component (Dutch: Landcomponent, French: Composante terre) camp located in Marche-en-Famenne to demonstrate the mobility performance of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the Command and Liaison Vehicles (CLV) which will equip the units of the Components Earth and Medical from March 2023. In Belgium, the JLTV CLVs will be baptized “Falcon” and adapted to Belgian needs and to the European legislation. Oshkosh has been commissioned to integrate a DeFNder Light 7.62 Remote Control Weapon Station (RCWS) from the Belgian company FN Herstal, on 135 of these vehicles.
Belgium’s Council of Ministers approved the purchase of 322 JLTVs (26 of them will go to the Special Operations Regiment (SOR) and in particular to the Special Forces Group (SFG)) in September 2020 for EUR135 million. In service the JLTV will replace the Iveco LMV fleet for command and liaison missions, and 20 examples will be configured as ambulances. The contract also includes a multiyear open agreement for technical assistance. First deliveries are anticipated in 2023. The Falcon is however 90% identical to the basic Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). They are to succeed the IVECO LMV (Light Multirole Vehicle) Lynx, in service since 2007.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is a United States military (specifically U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps) and United States Special Operations Command program to partially replace the Humvee fleet with a family of more survivable vehicles having a greater payload. Early studies for the JLTV program were approved in 2006. The JLTV program incorporates lessons learned from the earlier Future Tactical Truck Systems program and other associated efforts. Oshkosh’s L-ATV was selected as the winner of the JLTV program in August 2015 and awarded an initial production contract for up to 16,901 JLTVs. The U.S. Army approved the JLTV for full–rate production in June 2019.
The first delivery order for JLTV was announced on 23 March 2016 with the U.S. Army ordering 657 JLTVs, along with kits and support. The $243 million order included vehicles for the U.S. Army and Marines. As of April 2022, 15 JLTV delivery orders had been placed, the most recent of these in November 2021 and valued at USD591 million. The order includes 1,669 vehicles and 868 trailers, the vehicle total including 125 JLTVs for Brazil, Lithuania, Montenegro, and Slovenia. Deliveries are expected to be completed by September 2023. This latest order brings the total number of JLTVs ordered to date to 19,727.
