Oshkosh receives order for foreign military JLTVs

Oshkosh Defense will ship $100 million worth of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles to Romania, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Brazil and Montenegro, the company announced Tuesday.

“We are committed to supporting our international allies in protecting their warfighters and strengthening their capabilities while improving interoperability with the U.S. Military,” John Lazar, international vice president for Oshkosh Defense, said in the announcement.

The sale comes amid growing U.S. support for Eastern Europe spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All the countries receiving JLTVs under the new order have previously received JLTVs from Oshkosh.

Oshkosh received a $217 million contract modification to support fielding of JLTVs last year in a deal that included sales to Brazil, Lithuania and Montenegro. That order included 513 JLTVs and 1,152 trailers.

In 2021, Oshkosh Defense received a $592 million order for JLTVs, a deal under which Brazil, Lithuania, Montenegro and Slovenia would buy a total of 125 vehicles. The year before, Oshkosh was awarded a $23 million contract to build JLTVs and kits for Brazil, Lithuania and North Macedonia. Work for that contract was expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2022.

Oshkosh said it expects Lithuania to have a fleet of 500 JLTVs by the end of 2024.

In addition to the JLTVs, The U.S. has approved other military support to Romania, Lithuania and North Macedonia in recent months.

The Defense Department previously announced that a brigade combat team will rotate through Romania, which will provide a greater presence in the country than the United States had before the Russia-Ukraine war.

Inside Defense previously reported that the US was looking to help Lithuania buy long-range air surveillance radars as part of an effort to develop an integrated air and missile defense network for Baltic nations.

And in North Macedonia, the Pentagon said it would ship an estimated 54 Stryker combat vehicles to the NATO member, Inside Defense previously reported. North Macedonia, a Balkan state of former Yugoslavia, will use the Strykers to set up a vehicle brigade combat team “in order to meet its NATO membership requirements,” an Army spokesperson previously said.