The U.S. Marine Corps has determined that its new Amphibious Combat Vehicle Increment 1.1 meets all desired ship-to-shore swim capabilities, even those that were not planned to be met until the future Increment 1.2 portion of the program. The service was originally planning for Increment 1.1 to feature only basic swim capabilities, after which Increment 1.2 would integrate a true ship-to-shore capability.
The program’s prime contractor, BAE Systems, built the ACV to outperform the initial Increment 1.1 requirements, and vehicle testing has shown that the new ACV will be able to swim from an amphibious warship to shore without the assistance of a connector. This will allow the Marines to merge the ACV program into a single increment.
The Marines have been testing 16 prototype ACVs. The first low-rate initial production vehicles are scheduled for delivery in May or June of this year. BAE Systems won the ACV competition in June 2018. The vehicles are replacing the legacy Amphibious Assault Vehicles.
As editor of International Military Markets, North America, Shaun has cultivated a deep understanding of the vast defense markets in the United States and Canada. Shaun's perspective on defense procurement and budget issues has been cited in a variety of defense periodicals, including Defense News and National Defense Magazine. Further, Shaun played an integral role in the development of Forecast International's U.S. Defense Budget Forecast product, which offers an unprecedented level of insight into the Pentagon's acquisition budget. In addition to providing original analytical content for the U.S. Defense Budget Forecast, Shaun oversees an internal defense budget forecasting process involving Forecast International's team of skilled systems analysts following release of the DoD's annual budget request. Shaun is also in charge of managing Forecast International's Weapons Inventory database.
