Why the U.S. Marines Amphibious Combat vehicle Program works

The U.S. Marine Corps’ plan to replace its aging fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV7) is about to take a major step forward. By the end of June, the two teams vying for the contract to build the first of a series of increasingly sophisticated Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) will each provide the Marine Corps with 16 prototypes of their proposed solution for testing. The current plan is to release a final request for proposal by the end of the year and award a contract for the first tranche of some 200 ACVs by June 2018. Delivery of these vehicles is to be completed by 2025.

The ACV program is a model for how a military service with an urgent need to enhance its capabilities, but constrained by a lack of time and a scarcity of funds, can pursue near-term modernization. The Marine Corps’ initial effort to replace the AAV7 with a new platform, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), an altogether remarkable armored platform capable of high speed movement from landing ships to shore, fell afoul of a combination of changing requirements and declining procurement budgets. In response, the Marine Corps came up with a clever solution: a phased modernization program for the ACV that would produce sets of increasingly capable platforms as technology and resources become available. In addition, to meet the Marine Corps’ near-term needs, some 400 AAV7s will be upgraded.

The ACV program envisions acquiring a three-phase procurement program. The current competition is for the ACV 1.1. This will be a derivative of an off-the-shelf vehicle, carrying 10-13 Marines plus crew, and capable of operating as part of a mobile ground combat team alongside Marine Corps M-1 Abrams tanks and the residual AAVs. Although it will primarily move from ship to shore aboard a specialized connector, it will be able to self-deploy from vessels located close to the coastline (up to 12 nautical miles) and travel on the water at a moderate speed. The ACV 1.1 will provide a critical early entry capability for the Marine Corps, along with the force of upgraded AAVs.
Read More: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-the-us-marines-amphibious-combat-vehicle-program-works-20443

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