Lithuania’s government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) request for procurement of 500 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) has been given the go-ahead by the U.S. State Department, with notification sent to Congress on August 27. Earlier, in February, Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defense submitted a procurement application to the U.S. government concerning a potential acquisition of 200 JLTVs produced by Oshkosh Defense.
.@StateDept authorizes a proposed Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to #Lithuania for up to 500 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles #JLTV+ support worth $170.8 million @StateDeptPM @EURPressOffice @USNATO @USAandEurope #FMSUpdate–https://t.co/lB7yWrBaA9
— Political-Military Affairs, US Dept of State (@StateDeptPM) August 27, 2019
That prospective order has now grown to include 500 such vehicles, which are the U.S. Army’s long-term replacement for its HMMWVs. It also includes M1278A1 Heavy Gun Carriers, plus kits for ballistic armor, explosives protection, shot detection, and GPS. The entire package is estimated at $170.8 million in value.
The purchase will form part of the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ mechanization program, which also involves the procurement of the Boxer 8×8 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) from the ARTEC consortium of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall. That purchase, made on August 22, 2016, involves 88 Boxer IFVs that are referred to as Vilkas (Wolves) in Lithuanian service.
JLTV. Image – Oshkosh Corporation/Sebastian Saarloos [CC BY-SA 4.0]
