PARIS - New Oshkosh Defense boss John Bryant says there will be no problem accommodating overseas customers on the company's Joint Lightweight Tactical Vehicle program (JLTV) production line, even when output for the US military reaches it's peak.

The US vehicle builder is expected to deliver around 17,000 vehicles to the US military over an eight-year period, but Bryant says there is plenty of capacity at the Oshkosh,Wisconsin, plant for what he reckons will be a significant number of overseas customers operating the platform by the end of the decade.

"At no time will JLTV production capability be stretched. Full rate output will involve about 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles a year compared with our M-ATV where we were producing 1,000 a month," Bryant said in an interview with Defense News at the Eurosatory defense show in Paris, which touted a JLTV on display.

Oshkosh starts delivering initial low rate production vehicles to the US Army by early October. Bryant is confident the JLTV is ready for other international customers as well, due to the heavy test regime JLTV has undergone.

Oshkosh has been working the international market for a while, with JLTV Bryant predicting that availability of the vehicle under the US government foreign military sales scheme could come faster than expected.

"Traditionally the US government prefers not to do foreign military sales until a full rate production decision has been achieved on the US program. That requirement is not carved in granite, it can be waived for a mature platform and JLTV is one of those," said Bryant.

"If the US government thought it was appropriate, because of the maturity of the platform, to waive its normal requirement and allow a little bit of early production for an international customer in parallel with LRIP, it could happen," he added.

A full rate production decision is expected by November 2018. Bryant, who was promoted to president of Oshkosh Defense earlier this month, said the US government usually start working with international partners well ahead of full-rate production to formulate strategy for a particular FMS case.

"It wouldn't surprise me if discussions were commencing very very soon in order to create the conditions for success in a couple of years down the road," he said.

The Oshkosh executive declined to name the main targets for JTLV sales although he did confirm the company was following the British multi-role protected vehicle program "very closely".

Industry executives, who asked to not be named, said the British Ministry of Defence had already looked at possible FMS options for JTLV to potentially fulfill part of the protected vehicle requirement."I’d be astounded if there isn’t a significant number of overseas operators using this vehicle by the end of the decade," Bryant said. "Right now we are casting the net broadly, we're displaying the capability of the vehicle, particularly for customers familiar with our [bigger] M-ATV platform.We believe many international customers are likely to want both vehicles."

Croatia, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are among the international customers for M-ATV.

Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.

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