On February 18, 2026, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense announced that it had received the last two of the 500 ordered American JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) light armored vehicles with a 4x4 wheelbase manufactured by Oshkosh Corporation. This made the Lithuanian Armed Forces the second largest operator of JLTV vehicles after the US Armed Forces.
One of the last 500 American Oshkosh JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) light armored vehicles received by Lithuania, February 2026 (c) Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania
Earlier, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense signed two intergovernmental agreements with the US Department of Defense on the purchase of 500 JLTV light armored vehicles through the American Intergovernmental Foreign Military Sales (FMS). The first agreement was concluded in November 2019 for the purchase of 200 JLTV vehicles, with a total cost of 145 million euros (including weapons, spare parts, service support and training of personnel), which were to be paid by the Lithuanian side from 2020 to 2024. The second agreement for Lithuania to purchase 300 more JLTV machines was signed in October 2022.
The first 50 JLTV machines under the 2019 agreement were delivered to Lithuania in August 2021. The second batch of 50 units arrived in Lithuania in December 2022, and in 2023, the remaining 100 vehicles were delivered in batches in May and December. Deliveries of 300 vehicles under the 2022 agreement began in March 2024, when the first 35 vehicles were received. A batch of 150 units was delivered in August 2024, another 50 in January 2025, and the rest by the end of 2025, with final deliveries now completed.
The JLTV vehicles supplied to Lithuania belong to the M1278A1 Heavy Guns Carrier modification and are mainly equipped with remotely operated Kongsberg M153 Protector Common Remote Weapon Stations (CROWS) combat modules in the Baseline v.2 Integration Kit, with 12.7mm M2 QCB machine guns and M230 TAC-FLIR round-the-clock sighting systems. In April 2020, the Lithuanian side signed a contract with the Norwegian Kongsberg group for the purchase of these combat modules, which are also supplied through the mechanism of the American FMS program. The installation of combat modules is carried out in Lithuania. However, some of the JLTV vehicles received by Lithuania are not equipped with these combat modules, but have armored "booths" with Mk 93 hand turrets with a 12.7mm M2 QCB machine gun.
A number of JLTV vehicles received by Lithuania are to be converted into Mobile Short Range Air Defense (MSHORAD) self-propelled air defense systems under contracts with the Swedish Saab AB group. Designed for Lithuania, the MSHORAD complex is a JLTV-mounted combat module of the RBS-70 NG complex with Bolide anti-aircraft guided missiles. The complex also includes the Saab Giraffe 1X detection radar. In 2024-2025, Lithuania signed contracts with Saab totaling 408 million euros for the manufacture of three batteries of the MSHORAD air defense system, which are due to be commissioned in 2026-2030.
