TSAMTO, June 18. The Slovenian Ministry of Defense announced on June 4 the presentation of the first JLTV light armored vehicles with the 4x4 wheel formula (national designation LKOV – Laki Kolesni Oklepni Vozil) produced by Oshkosh Defense.
The event was attended by Defense Minister Matej Tonin, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Brigadier General Roman Urbanch, Norwegian Ambassador Trine Skimun, representatives of the companies Oshkosh Defense and Kongsberg.
The new BBMs will replace the existing equipment, the service life of which is expiring. In addition, the existing armored vehicles do not meet the latest standards of ballistic and mine protection.
According to the Minister of Defense of Slovenia, this year it is planned to place an order for the supply of 37 additional JLTV vehicles.
As reported by TSAMTO, on November 12, 2018, Slovenia and the United States signed a letter of offer and acceptance of an offer for the supply of 38 JLTV BBMs manufactured by Oshkosh under the "Foreign Military Sales" program. The total cost of the sale, including delivery and VAT, is estimated at 32 million euros (26.7 million euros without VAT). This amount includes the purchase of armored vehicles, M153 remote-controlled weapon modules, tools, spare parts, administrative expenses, maintenance of equipment and training of personnel. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, deliveries of the BBM will be made during 2021-2023.
The equipment is delivered in a configuration designed for the US military. As previously planned, 18 new LKOV BBMs with weapons systems will be transferred to the MTR units, and the remaining 20 units will be transferred to the MTR units. - as part of the combat brigade group. All delivered armored vehicles will be equipped with the M153 DUMV of the Norwegian company Kongsberg.
The first batch of equipment was delivered to the port of Koper (Slovenia) on May 12. Judging by the available photos, the delivered batch included 24 armored vehicles and related equipment.