Baldwin Slams Army’s Mismanagement of JLTV Program After Her Repeated Warnings

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) slammed the Army’s mismanagement of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program after she repeatedly warned that the private equity-owned company, AM General, lacked the skilled workforce, experience, and infrastructure to complete the contract on time. Under AM General, the production of the JLTVs are now nearly two years behind schedule, jeopardizing military readiness. After the Army awarded AM General, rather than the experienced Oshkosh Defense, a five-year, $8.6 billion contract to manufacture up to 20,000 JLTVs, Senator Baldwin raised concerns multiple times with Army leadership about AM General’s ability to produce JLTVs. “Unfortunately, over the last three years, my concerns about AM General’s ability to meet the JLTV contract have borne out. In response to my letters in 2023 and 2024, the Army provided assurances that it would provide strict oversight of AM General’s production and potential risks of disruption to the program. Despite those assurances, AM General continued to flounder and the delivery of the JLTVs has continued to be delayed. AM General is now nearly two years late in delivering JLTVs and the Department of Defense (DoD) has yet to accept a single production standard JLTV A2, despite nearly $2 billion in taxpayer dollars being obligated to AM General since the contract was awarded. This is unacceptable performance for one of DoD’s largest vehicles contracts,” Senator Baldwin wrote in a letter to the Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll . In addition to raising concerns about AM General’s lack of ability to fulfil the contract, Baldwin also called on the Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, to allow the Marine Corps to pursue new contracts to procure JLTVs. After the Army, the Marine Corps is the largest buyer of JLTVs, requesting $245 million for the program in FY27. However, the Marine Corps is currently facing growing readiness challenges due to the delays in JLTV production. The Army manages the JLTV contract for the entire military, so going with another contractor, like Oshkosh, would require collaboration between the Army and Marine Corps. Once ramped up, the Oshkosh JLTV production line could produce approximately 1,200 JLTVs per year. Without additional orders soon, Oshkosh says their JLTV production line will close. Senator Baldwin concluded , “It is vital that the Marine Corps and other Services have the vehicles they need to be able to fight in future wars. Unfortunately, the Army’s risky financial decision in awarding the follow-on JLTV contract to AM General is imperiling the readiness of the Marine Corps. In 2023 , when the U.S. Army announced they awarded the contract for JLTVs to the New York private equity firm-owned AM General, Baldwin expressed her deep concern that this decision could cause a gap in the production of these vehicles because of AM General’s dangerous financial circumstances and lack of experience. Baldwin also pressed the then-Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth in a Senate hearing on the issue and asked about the Army’s plan for managing the health of the defense industrial base for tactical wheeled vehicles. In 2024, Baldwin sounded the alarm again, noting that AM General was beset by production challenges and delays and outlining the consequences of delays on servicemembers. Full text of the letter is available here and below. Dear Secretary Driscoll, I write to you today to express my continued concerns with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program that the Army administers on behalf of the military. Since the Army awarded the follow-on contract for the JLTV to AM General in early 2023, the program has been behind schedule and at risk of failure. To protect our military readiness, I ask that you support other Services’ efforts to pursue alternative acquisition approaches to fulfill their JLTV requirements. In early 2023, the Army awarded AM General a five-year, $8.6 billion contract to manufacture up to 20,000 JLTVs for the Services. AM General was selected for this contract over Oshkosh Corporation, which had successfully produced the original A1 variant of the JLTV since 2016. As the Army shifted production to AM General, I expressed serious concerns to Army leadership regarding AM General’s ability to deliver its A2 variant of the JLTV on time and at the contracted cost. At the time the contract was awarded, AM General had a “very high credit risk” after being saddled with $675 million in expensive debt when it was acquired by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in 2020. In January 2023, shortly before the contract was awarded, Moody’s Investor Service issued a credit opinion on AM General that said, “the company has limited capacity to absorb unanticipated operating or financial setbacks.” Having never produced JLTVs before, AM General needed to incur significant startup costs to get a production line fully operating, as required by the Army contract. Unfortunately, over the last three years, my concerns about AM General’s ability to meet the JLTV contract have borne out. In response to my letters in 2023 and 2024, the Army provided assurances that it would provide strict oversight of AM General’s production and potential risks of disruption to the program. Despite those assurances, AM General continued to flounder and the delivery of the JLTVs has continued to be delayed. AM General is now nearly two years late in delivering JLTVs and the Department of Defense (DoD) has yet to accept a single production standard JLTV A2, despite nearly $2 billion in taxpayer dollars being obligated to AM General since the contract was awarded. This is unacceptable performance for one of DoD’s largest vehicles contracts. In 2025, the Army announced that it intends to pivot away from the JLTV towards the new Infantry Squad Vehicle and did not request any funding for JLVT procurement in the FY27 budget. However, the Army administers the JLTV contract for the entire DoD and, other Services, including the Marine Corps, continue to need JLTVs. The Marine Corps in particular is now facing readiness challenges because JLTV A2s have underperformed and delivery from AM General has been so delayed. To address this growing readiness gap, the Marine Corps has begun exploring alternative contracting options to procure additional JLTVs or JLTV-like vehicles. To that end, on May 27, the Marine Corps posted a request for information for alternative potential sources of these vehicles. It is vital that the Marine Corps and other Services have the vehicles they need to be able to fight in future wars. Unfortunately, the Army’s risky financial decision in awarding the follow-on JLTV contract to AM General is imperiling the readiness of the Marine Corps. Therefore, I request that you: Affirm that the Army will fully support the Marine Corps and any other Services pursuing alternative acquisition approaches to meet their JLTV requirements; Direct the JLTV Joint Program Office to provide the Marine Corps full access to the technical data and program support needed to evaluate alternative sources; and Provide my office, within 30 days, the Army’s plan to ensure continued JLTV A2 delivery shortfalls do not further degrade Marine Corps readiness. Thank you for your continued willingness to prioritize improving military readiness and support novel military acquisitions approaches. ###