Slovenia became the second Balkan state to receive the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) after the vehicles arrived at the Port of Koper on May 11.
Another Balkan country, Montenegro, received first examples of the JLTV 4×4 in October 2020.
The Slovenian defense ministry did not say whether all of the 38 vehicles on order were delivered on May 11, but photos showed 24 vehicles lined up in the port.
Oshkosh Defense is delivering the vehicles to Slovenia under a contract from November 2018.
Slovenian JLTVs will be equipped with Kongsberg’s M153 Protector remote weapons station integrated with Spike long range missiles developed by Israel’s Rafael. Montenegro chose to equip its JLTVs with remote controlled weapon stations (RCWS) developed by another Israeli company, Elbit Systems.
In addition to Slovenia and Montenegro, Macedonia has also ordered the JLTV. Deliveries of the first 33 units are to take place between 2022 and 2023. The country has options to buy a total of 152 JLTVs by 2024.
Apart from the Balkans, the Oshkosh Defense-built vehicle has raked sales successes elsewhere in Europe, with other customers including Belgium and Lithuania. It is also being considered by the UK, where it is scheduled to perform a demonstration phase as part of the British Army’s effort to replace its command, liaison and light logistics vehicles.
The vehicles are air-transportable (CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters; C-130, C-5, C-17 and A400 Cargo fixed-wing aircraft) and can be delivered in a multitude of versions ranging from general purpose to heavy guns carrier. The vehicles come with integrated C4ISR capabilities and have a payload of 2,313 kg in the two-door configuration, and 1,587 kg in four-door configuration.
