JLTV operational testing is complete...

via Defense Aerospace.

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. --- Marines and Soldiers will finish testing the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Thursday at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) here.

Soldiers from Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division joined with Marines of Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, to run the JLTV through its paces by conducting real-world missions in an operational environment as realistic as Iraq or Afghanistan.

Testing began late February, and according to Randall G. Fincher, JLTV test officer with the U.S. Army Operational Test Command (USAOTC), 39 JLTVs in two variants of Combat Tactical Vehicle and Combat Support Vehicle were split, with 18 going to the Marines and 21 to the Army test units.

"The Marines and the Army were equipped with both variants in the following mission packages: Heavy Guns Carrier, General Purpose, Close Combat Weapons Carrier, and the Utility version," said Fincher.

The biggest advantage to testing was the almost unreserved size of the MCAGCC training area and its harsh terrain, providing a true test of the vehicle's maneuverability.

"The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center offers us a large expanse of maneuverable terrain with hardball routes, secondary routes, and cross-country terrain in a realistic desert environment," said Col. John W. Leffers, director of USAOTC's Maneuver Support and Sustainment Test Directorate.

"The terrain I see out there, is very indicative of what a Soldier or Marine would see in southern Afghanistan," he continued.

"It's absolutely the conditions the JLTV will be operating in, real-world, based on past deployments and the strong possibility of areas we will operate in for the foreseeable future."

Leffers said the two particular Marine and Army units performing tests represent the JLTV's primary customers.

"It's a joint vehicle," he said. "We used the Marines, who picked the company they thought would use the JLTV on a frequent basis. And, for the Army, the Recon Troop was perfect because of the number of JLTVs we wanted to test in a variety of missions that we project the JLTV might be operating under."

Operationally realistic scenarios allowed the test unit Marines and Soldiers to tell the Department of Defense how well the system supports their mission execution.

For the Marines, live fire and helicopter sling load operations, as well as a Marine Amphibious Landing mission at Camp Pendleton, Calif., were added to testing.

Story here. 

I just want them to get it done.  Not a complaint but a wish.

Don't know why but I personally don't think things bode well for future defense budgets after the latest plus up the Republicans, Dems and President were able to push thru.

I think so seriously lean times are ahead for the defense dept and I don't think they're ready. 

Projects like this one (in my opinion) should be shitting JLTVs across the forces like beads during Mardi Gras.

We've neglected our ground forces for too long.

We've GOT to get busy  upgrading them.

If we've lost air superiority and everything coming out of the DoD indicates at BEST we're gonna be seriously challenged, then we've got to have ground forces that can survive alone.

That means programs like the JLTV should be given new priority.