WASHINGTON: First there was the Jeep, then came the Humvee. Now the US military has a new all-purpose vehicle that’s destined to become another emblem of American fighting power: the JLTV.
Granted, the name is not as catchy as its predecessors, but the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle signals a technological leap forward that the military hopes will protect troops for decades to come.
Army officials last month announced the winner of a bid to replace thousands of Humvees, the culmination of a search that began in the years after the start of the war in Iraq in 2003.
While the beefy-looking Humvee was praised for its speed and ubiquity as invading US troops poured into Iraq, a growing insurgency and the spread of roadside bombs there and in Afghanistan soon spelled trouble for the vehicle — and its occupants.
With a flat underbelly and low clearance, the Humvee was ill-equipped to cope with the deadly blast of an explosive device. Instead of deflecting or dissipating the energy, much of it would shoot into the cab, often with fatal results.
“An armored Humvee is not designed to deal with land mines, the architecture is all wrong,” said Jim Hasick, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank. “It sits far too close to the ground and doesn’t have a V-shape hull (to deflect a blast).”
The military pushed to reinforce Humvees, but they remained vulnerable. Then came an accelerated program to deliver more than 24,000 new “mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles” — or MRAPs — at a cost of roughly $45 billion.
But these reinforced trucks were heavy, making it hard to deposit them where they were needed, and running counter to a Pentagon push for a faster, lighter fighting force.
So the military started looking for a replacement vehicle as mobile as a Humvee but with the protection of a MRAP.
The Army on August 25 announced a $6.75 billion contract for the Wisconsin-based manufacturer Oshkosh, which has a long track record of building military trucks and armored vehicles.
Oshkosh beat competitors Lockheed Martin and AM General, which makes the Humvee. The rivals may yet file protests over the contract award, which could potentially trigger delays.
In total, the Army plans to buy nearly 50,000 of the vehicles before 2040, while the Marine Corps wants 5,500. The total value of the contract over that time is estimated at $30 billion, with Oshkosh beginning to deliver vehicles 10 months from now.
John Bryant, the senior vice president of defense programs at Oshkosh, said vehicle designers focused on the threat of roadside bombs.
Unlike in a Humvee, parts of the new JLTV fragment so explosive forces are carried away from the cab, helping to dissipate the deadly energy.
“Pieces of the vehicle will definitely fly off,” Bryant told AFP.
“They are supposed to behave that way. You can see significant levels of destruction to portions of the vehicle, and yet the crew capsule with that precious cargo inside remains intact — and the crew survives.”
While precise technical specifications remain secret, Bryant said the new vehicle has been designed for the future, meaning it can be readily adapted for changing military needs.
For instance, it can come fitted with a turret for a regular gunner, or else it can be equipped with a remotely operated weapon.
Similarly, it would be relatively straightforward to make the vehicle remote-controlled or give it a hybrid-electric engine.
Imagine a convoy of military vehicles: if the leading one is remote-controlled and hits a roadside bomb, there is no crew to get injured.
The Oshkosh JLTV has a hulking front end covering a 6.6-liter diesel engine and small, bulletproof windows.
The vehicle is comparatively speedy, going up to 70 percent faster than any other military vehicle over rough terrain. And it’s light enough to be carried by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
Just as the Humvee was adopted by foreign armies around the world, Bryant said several countries have already expressed an interest in the JLTV.
“The requirement for protected mobility combined with extreme off-road capabilities seems to be a relatively universal requirement,” he said.
In the wake of the first Gulf War from 1990 to 1991, the Humvee gained worldwide fame as news crews filmed it roaring across desert sands.
The vehicle, which is technically called the HMMWV, became so popular in the United States that AM General made a civilian version called the Hummer.
One of the original purchasers was another well-muscled American icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Though the Army will continue to maintain a fleet of Humvees, their numbers will gradually dwindle. But the vehicle remains popular with foreign armies — last year the US government approved the sale of more than 3,300 of them to the Mexican military.
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After Humvee, US Army to unleash latest beast
After Humvee, US Army to unleash latest beast
US warned Ukraine not to hit US interests in strikes on Russia energy infrastructure, envoy says
- State Department demarche came after strike on Russian port
- Ukraine does not feel abandoned by US, envoy says
WASHINGTON: The US State Department told the Ukrainian government to refrain from hitting US interests following a Ukrainian attack on the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, Kyiv’s ambassador to Washington said on Tuesday. Ambassador Olha Stefanishyna described the message as a demarche, a formal, official message, but declined to elaborate on how it was received and whether she was summoned by the State Department. She said Ukraine had taken note of the communication.
The State Department declined to comment.
Stefanishyna, speaking on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, said the State Department reached out after Ukraine’s attack on Novorossiysk “because it affected American (and) Kazakh economic interest.” Most of Kazakhstan’s oil is sent to Novorossiysk for export. The port halted its November oil exports briefly on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack.
Stefanishyna said the message focused on strikes affecting US interests, not halting attacks on Russian infrastructure.
“This reach-out was not related to encouraging Ukraine from refraining to attack Russian military and energy infrastructure. It was related to the very fact that American economic interest was affected there,” she said.
She said the incident made clear that Ukraine had failed to establish similarly close economic ties with the US in the decades since its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and she was determined to change that. Her job as ambassador was focused on working with the US to achieve a peace deal, as well as ensuring that Kyiv built sustainable and long-lasting American economic interests in Ukraine, she said, adding this would provide her country with one of the most powerful security guarantees.
Two days of peace talks in Geneva between Ukraine and Russia last week have failed to produce a breakthrough.
Not feeling abandoned
Stefanishyna, who later attended President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in Congress, said her country was grateful for Trump’s personal engagement on ending the war and does not feel abandoned by Washington, despite the failure to reach a ceasefire and his decision to scale back military support. The ambassador, who served as Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration before going to Washington, urged Congress to pass a comprehensive sanctions bill that would lay the groundwork for further sanctions against Russia, after last year’s moves to designate Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft. She said Ukraine was working closely with US lawmakers on the legislation, predicting that it would have overwhelming bipartisan support once introduced, and that she expected Trump to sign it once it passed.
“So it should be either passed now, or we will just have to recognize that there’s no will to do it,” she said.
Ukraine was also working with the US government on new ways to deprive Russia of revenue to fund the war, but declined to give details.
“There’s a number of engagements which are ongoing,” she said. “What I can say is that we have not been abandoned by the US government.”
Stefanishyna said she expected Trump’s address to Congress to touch on foreign affairs and ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The State Department declined to comment.
Stefanishyna, speaking on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, said the State Department reached out after Ukraine’s attack on Novorossiysk “because it affected American (and) Kazakh economic interest.” Most of Kazakhstan’s oil is sent to Novorossiysk for export. The port halted its November oil exports briefly on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack.
Stefanishyna said the message focused on strikes affecting US interests, not halting attacks on Russian infrastructure.
“This reach-out was not related to encouraging Ukraine from refraining to attack Russian military and energy infrastructure. It was related to the very fact that American economic interest was affected there,” she said.
She said the incident made clear that Ukraine had failed to establish similarly close economic ties with the US in the decades since its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and she was determined to change that. Her job as ambassador was focused on working with the US to achieve a peace deal, as well as ensuring that Kyiv built sustainable and long-lasting American economic interests in Ukraine, she said, adding this would provide her country with one of the most powerful security guarantees.
Two days of peace talks in Geneva between Ukraine and Russia last week have failed to produce a breakthrough.
Not feeling abandoned
Stefanishyna, who later attended President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in Congress, said her country was grateful for Trump’s personal engagement on ending the war and does not feel abandoned by Washington, despite the failure to reach a ceasefire and his decision to scale back military support. The ambassador, who served as Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration before going to Washington, urged Congress to pass a comprehensive sanctions bill that would lay the groundwork for further sanctions against Russia, after last year’s moves to designate Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft. She said Ukraine was working closely with US lawmakers on the legislation, predicting that it would have overwhelming bipartisan support once introduced, and that she expected Trump to sign it once it passed.
“So it should be either passed now, or we will just have to recognize that there’s no will to do it,” she said.
Ukraine was also working with the US government on new ways to deprive Russia of revenue to fund the war, but declined to give details.
“There’s a number of engagements which are ongoing,” she said. “What I can say is that we have not been abandoned by the US government.”
Stefanishyna said she expected Trump’s address to Congress to touch on foreign affairs and ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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