U.S. Marines set up a communications receiver on a joint light tactical vehicle during a field exercise on the Japanese island of Okinawa on Feb. 7, 2023. The JLTV is an Army-led joint program with the Marine Corps designed to close capability gaps in the light tactical vehicle fleets. (Grace Gerlach/U.S. Marine Corps)

The Army and AM General are partnering on an $8.6 billion deal for production of thousands of joint light tactical vehicles, according to an announcement this week.

The five-year contract calls for AM General to deliver about 20,000 of the vehicles along with 10,000 trailers and various technological enhancements, the Army said in a statement Thursday.

AM General was awarded the follow-on contract over Oshkosh Defense, which won the original JLTV contract in August 2015.

As part of the deal, the Army is aiming for fuel efficiency improvements, such as anti-idle capabilities that would reduce costs. The JLTV A2 design is the first tactical wheeled vehicle with baseline architecture able to be powered by lithium-ion batteries, the Army said.

Inside the Pentagon, a push is underway to incorporate more environmentally friendly technology, such as anti-idling capabilities, into military vehicles.

If used broadly, such technology could lead to a sharp reduction in carbon emissions given the overall size of the Defense Department’s fleet, which is responsible for roughly half of the federal government’s carbon footprint, according to The Washington Post.

The JLTV is an Army-led joint program with the Marine Corps designed to close capability gaps in the light tactical vehicle fleets.

The vehicles, developed as a replacement for older Humvees, are intended to provide ground forces with increased protection.

The statement did not say when production is slated to begin or what the time frame is for delivery of the first vehicles.