US Army’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicles Never Passed Required Armor Testing

In news that we’re certain will have Adam Schiff laying out a multi-national, multi-planetary conspiracy that can only be stopped by impeaching Donald Trump tomorrow, a new report from Bloomberg found that from 2017 to 2019, employees at Evraz North America Inc., a Russian-owned steel manufacturer, falsified quality control tests on armor plating used in the JLTV, according to an internal report and company officials.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the U.S. Army’s successor to the Humvee, is designed to protect troops from bullets, mines, and explosives. At its Portland, Oregon facility, workers skipped mandatory hardness tests and fabricated results for about 12,800 armor plates, which were falsely labeled as approved. Some of these plates later developed cracks, raising concerns about their reliability in combat.

Oshkosh Defense LLC, a major military vehicle manufacturer, was a key customer for Evraz’s armor plates. The company produces the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), marketed as a “go-anywhere, do-anything” light tactical vehicle. Primarily used by the U.S. military, the JLTV has also been provided to Ukraine, Israel, Brazil, and Lithuania. As of last year, over 22,000 JLTVs had been built, each expected to last around 20 years, the report says.

It remains unclear how many of the 12,800 untested plates were installed on JLTVs or other military vehicles. Following an internal report, the FBI has visited multiple Evraz facilities over the past year. Authorities have also issued a subpoena requiring Evraz to preserve records related to its production processes, according to company officials and local media reports.

Bloomberg writes that in response to inquiries, Evraz North America stated that its internal report “examines quality control protocols” and reinforces its commitment to high-quality production. The company emphasized that its plates passed independent government-approved testing and that it has not received any client complaints. The military also conducts independent checks of armored plating to ensure its protective capabilities.

Despite this, Evraz launched an internal probe in late 2019 after allegations surfaced about lapses in quality control. A December 2019 report titled “Portland Plate Quality Inspections” found that, since November 2017, staff skipped mandatory hardness tests and manually entered fake results. The report emphasized that armor plates require 100% hardness testing to ensure strength and durability.

Interviews with four employees revealed that falsifying data was a common practice due to production pressures. Rather than testing each plate, workers would copy results from previously tested plates to keep the assembly line moving. The widespread issue, detailed in the confidential report, raises concerns about the integrity of armor plating used in military vehicles.

Read Bloomberg’s full writeup here.