A senior official at Oshkosh Defense said the U.S. Army is set to test new modifications to its joint light tactical vehicle at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday. The updated JLTV will be delivered to Fort Stewart, Ga., this week for initial evaluation, according to George Mansfield, vice president and general manager of joint programs at Oshkosh Defense.
Official testing at Aberdeen is expected to take one month and will focus on three major modifications to the JLTV. Oshkosh intends to get soldier feedback on the increased size of the rear-door windows on the vehicle, the additional front forward-facing camera and a new muffler to reduce the exterior noise of the vehicle.
“We feel that right after that evaluation will be another decision point for full-rate production,†Mansfield told National Defense at the Association of the United States Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exhibition in Alabama.
The Army planned to announce a full-rate production decision in December. However, the process was delayed until late 2019 due to technical issues. Robert Behler, director of operational test and evaluation at the Pentagon, released a report in January highlighting the JLTVs were “not operationally suitable because of deficiencies in reliability, maintainability, training, manuals, crew situational awareness and safety.â€
