Whether it’s on the battlefield or at the site of a disaster, the iconic High Mobility
Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV could be seen almost everywhere.
It has served the United States loyally since 1985, and over those 30 years more than 281,000
“Humvees” have rolled off the AM General production lines.
US Department of Defense (DOD) initiated the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program
to replace and improve upon the aging Humvee.
A rigorous testing exercise was undertaken to choose a model from 3 different vendors.
Oshkosh was declared as winner on 25 August 2015, when its model was selected over Lockheed
Martin and AM General’s models.
JLTV is as much as a technology leap over the Humvee, as the Humvee was to the Jeep-like
Ford M151 MUTT before it.
According to the U.S Army, an infantry brigade combat team in the 10th Mountain Division
at Fort Drum was the first to receive JLTV in June 2017.
The JLTV family and its nomenclature evolved throughout the development process and to
date, the U.S. Army has allocated M designations to four individual JLTV configurations - Heavy
Guns Carrier, Utility, General Purpose, Close Combat Weapons Carrier.
Although Humvees will continue to serve behind-the-scenes with the Army and Marines until 2050, the
new JLTV will be in the frontline.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes 5 reasons why Oshkosh JLTV is a major leap over HMMWV?
Let’s get started
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While the Humvee continues to prove itself as a versatile military design, the Iraq and
Afghanistan conflicts revealed a fatal flaw—insufficient protection from improvised explosive devices
(IDE).
The initial response was to add armor to existing Humvees, and primarily on the sides.
This improved side protection against direct fire and associated threats, but since the
chassis was not designed to handle any further additional weight, there was little room for
underbody protection.
The additional weight also adversely impacted mobility.
The Oshkosh JLTV chassis has been designed to provide better survivability.
Compared to an up-armored Humvee, a basic Oshkosh JLTV offers multiple orders of magnitude
more protection from bullets and bombs to its occupants.
JLTV includes blast protected seats, restraints and stowage to minimize crew impact during
adverse events
Also, each Oshkosh JLTV is capable of being fitted with a “B-Kit” of armor, boosting
protection to level similar to that of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected or MRAP vehicles.
It is a very important thing.
Pentagon findings showed that in 2009, U.S. troops in MRAPs were 17 times more likely
to survive IED blasts than in Humvees.
The base JLTV does not have a standard armament, however, it can be fitted with a selection
of weapons including light, medium, and heavy machine guns, automatic grenade launchers,
or anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) depending on user requirements.
The weapons can be operated from ring mounts or a remote weapon station.
Smoke grenade launchers for self-defense can also be fitted if required.
Since the Humvee first went into service, its engine has been upgraded to a 6.5-liter
turbodiesel V-8 that produces an inadequate 190 hp & 380 lb-ft of torque.
That’s hardly enough power to motivate the base Humvee’s roughly 6,000-pound curb weight,
let alone the 13,000-plus-pound curb weight of an armored Humvee.
The end result is Humvees have a top speed of 70 miles per hour.
The Oshkosh JLTV uses Gale Banks Engineering 866T, 6.6-liter diesel engine.
This engine is based on GM Duramax architecture used in many trucks.
The current variant of the engine summons 397 horsepower and 765 lb-ft of torque.
This power will be able to propel the vehicle to a top speed of 100 mph.
Double the torque will also enable the JLTV to better navigate tricky terrain.
The engine also provides improved fuel economy in both idle and operational modes.
This is very significant since it stretches the capacity of the supply line less.
It is interesting to note in this context that M1 Abrams MBT though very competent,
has been criticized heavily because of its fuel-guzzling nature.
The JLTV can be fitted with the Oshkosh ProPulse diesel-electric powertrain, previously fitted
to the Oshkosh Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) and MTVR.
According to Oshkosh, the ProPulse diesel-electric powertrain dramatically improves fuel economy
by up to 35 percent in certain circumstances and serves as an on-board generator with enough
output to power an entire airfield or hospital, generating up to 120 kW of AC power for external
operations.
It is to be noted that the hybrid powertrain is not a requirement of the JLTV program but
it is great that an option is already in place in case required.
Reliability can be the difference between life and death when it comes to combat vehicles.
Although Humvees were initially pretty reliable in the field, as they aged and as the military
upgraded them with heavy armor that increased wear and tear, they needed more and more maintenance.
During the testing phase of the JLTV program, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps brought along
22 up-armored Humvees to test alongside Oshkosh, Lockheed Martin, and AM General’s JLTV entrants,
with each manufacturer providing 22 test vehicles.
During nearly 3 years of testing, platoons equipped with Oshkosh JLTVs had the highest
levels of mission success.
Oshkosh’s JLTVs was also far the most reliable of the bunch, averaging 7,051 miles between
operational mission failures, defined as a system failure that prevents the vehicle from
accomplishing its mission.
Up-armored Humvees were surprisingly the second-most reliable of the group, averaging 2,968 miles
between failures, followed by the Lockheed Martin JLTV at 1,271 miles between failures,
and the AM General JLTV, which averaged only 526 miles between failures.
Oshkosh fits each JLTV with its TAK-4i suspension system.
It is a fully independent double-wishbone design with electronically adjustable high-pressure
gas shocks.
The JLTV’s suspension has 20 inches of wheel travel, and the ability to raise and lower
the suspension as needed.
It is significantly better than Humvee’s ground clearance of 16 inches.
In a Humvee, the troops, tend to be thrown around inside the cabin when the Humvee travels
over rough terrain.
2 to 3 hours of such travel can leave the occupant significantly fatigued.
The advanced suspension in JLTV provides a much smoother ride, as the cabin practically
floats over the wheels.
The wheels move up and down a lot, but the cabin remains stable.
This enables the soldiers to do their tasks more effectively like firing from inside the
vehicle since the platform is steady.
JLTV also includes a High-performance brake solution to provide exceptional stopping and
grade holding capability.
These features come together to provide unprecedented levels of off-road performance.
The Humvee was never designed to tightly integrate with multiple sensors or process a lot of
information.
The Oshkosh JLTV is designed from the ground up to incorporate multiple sensors & informational
systems.
It is built with the capability to serve as a highly mobile and protected command center.
Actually, Oshkosh JLTV hosts a complete C4ISR that is Command, Control, Communications,
Computers (C4) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) network solution
which can be configured to meet demands of the evolving battlefield with mission expansion
package.
JLTV also includes the following:
1.
Long Range Surveillance: Enabling early detection of threat.
2.
Shot Detection: Easily find the origin of incoming fire.
3.
Silent Watch Power Systems: Low noise mode, harder to detect.
4.
Visible Light and IR camera systems: Better visual recognition.