BAE Systems Land and Armaments LP has received a $67 million contract modification to a previously awarded contract (M67854-16-C-0006) for the development of engineering drawings for, and manufacture and test support of, three Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) command and control Mission Role Variants (MRVs). The contract also includes the development of engineering drawings for the ACV medium-caliber cannon MRV.
Work under this contract will be performed in York, Pennsylvania (85 %) and Aiken, South Carolina (15 %), and is expected to be completed by September 30, 2022. The Navy is obligating $2.5 million in FY18 research and development funding and $20.1 million in FY19 R&D funding at the time of contract award.
The ACV is replacing the AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles used by the Marine Corps. BAE Systems was tasked in June 2018 with building the Marine Corps’ ACV Increment 1.1 vehicle, and received an initial $198 million contract at the time to provide 30 low-rate initial production (LRIP) vehicles, four of which will be used for blast testing. The contract includes options for 204 ACVs over four years, worth $1.2 billion.
The original plan was to pursue the program in two increments. Increment 1.1 vehicles would offer basic swim capabilities, and Increment 1.2 would integrate a true ship-to-shore swim capability. BAE Systems built the ACV to outperform the basic Increment 1.1 requirements, and demonstrated that the vehicles were able to swim from an amphibious warship to shore without the assistance of a connector. This allowed the Marines to merge the ACV into a single increment.
In addition to armored personnel carrier variants, the Marines also plan to buy a command and control variant, a recovery vehicle variant, and a 30mm gun variant. The ACV is based on the Italian SuperAV.
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.
