Joint Light Tactical Vehicle tested by Army and USMC.

US marines and Army soldiers have started testing the new Oshkosh 4x4 Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) in eastern California’s Mojave Desert at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.

The JLTV is being tested by the Army and Marine Corps (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The JLTV is a joint military program that will partially replace the Humvee, officially designated High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), with a family of more survivable vehicles with greater payload, according Randall Fincher, test officer with the U.S. Army Operational Test Command (USAOTC), based out of Fort Hood, Texas. The Army, lead for the JLTV portfolio, plans to purchase some 49,000 JLTVs while the Marine Corps plans to purchase 9,000.

Marines from 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, are joining with soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 33rd Reconnaissance Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division to run the JLTV through its paces by conducting real-world missions in an operational environment.

A test team of over 200 military, civilian and contract workers from USAOTC, will collect data during the JLTV Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation (MOTE), with support from the Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Agency (MCOTEA).

Data collected will be used to address operational effectiveness, suitability and survivability of the JLTV in its intended environment. The operationally realistic scenarios will allow the test unit Marines and Soldiers to tell the Department of Defense how well the system supports their mission execution. Thirty-nine production representative vehicles will amass about 30,000 miles during simulated combat operations.

The Marine and Army test units will conduct three multi-day missions that will consist of several force-on-force scenarios in each mission set. They will also conduct live fire and helicopter sling load operations, as well as a Marine Amphibious Landing mission at Camp Pendleton, California.

Testing will also include a Real Time Casualty Assessment System coupled with a computer simulation that will provide engagement results, indirect fire effects and depict friendly adjacent forces, which will provide a more robust operational picture, according to Morris.

As a reminder, the JLTV incorporates field-proven technologies, advanced armor solutions and expeditionary levels of mobility. The vehicle also is designed to accept additional armor packages and technology upgrades as the mission type requires. The armoring offers a protection level similar to that of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and IEDs.