The Russians were not left out: American JLTV armoured vehicles were built with defects in the armour for several years
The US JLTV armoured vehicles supplied to the US Army and allies may have been manufactured with defective armour plates, and the Russians may be to blame.
Here's What We Know
In 2015, Oshkosh Defence was awarded a contract by the Pentagon to supply up to 16,901 JLTVs, with the total requirement estimated at 64,000 units. The programme was also supported by Belgium, Romania, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. Production began in 2016, but vehicles manufactured from 2017 to 2019 may have received defective armour plates.
According to an investigation published by Bloomberg, the US subsidiary of Russian steel giant Evraz North America falsified quality control data for approximately 12,800 armour plates made in Portland. Some of them were later found to have cracks.
A JLTV armoured vehicle of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Illustration: Lithuanian Ministry of Defence
At least four Evraz employees admitted to manually entering false results instead of mandatory testing due to excessive production pressure. An internal investigation found that this practice was widespread, although the company's management denied any involvement.
It is estimated that about 22,000 JLTVs will be produced by 2024, and it is now necessary to establish which vehicles are equipped with defective parts. At the same time, the FBI has launched an investigation by conducting inspections at Evraz's facilities in North America. Bloomberg notes that there is no evidence yet of a link between these events and US support for Ukraine.
Source: Bloomberg
