via Inside Defense.
The Marine Corps must upgrade its legacy amphibious vehicle to better protect it against the improvised explosive device threat before the Amphibious Combat Vehicle comes online in 2020, according to service officials.More equivocation. More vacillation. More bullshit.
In January 2011, after spending about $3 billion on development, the Marine Corps canceled the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle due to cost overruns. That cancellation has led the service to recognize that it must increase the Assault Amphibious Vehicle's capability since it will be in the fleet until about 2030, Angelo Scarlato, project director for the upgrade, said during a May 30 interview.
The service released a request for information on May 24 for AAV force protection improvements. The government anticipates releasing a request for proposals during the fourth quarter fiscal year 2013. The RFP is expected to include a six-month contract for design with options for prototyping and low-rate initial production, according to a Federal Business Opportunities notice.
"Frankly, it's been programmed for retirement several times because of the projected original fielding of the EFV, but with the cancellation of the EFV we've mandated at this point to do more to increase the capability of the AAV," Dennis Boucher, AAV program director said during the same interview.
One of the challenges for the service is to improve the AAV's survivability against IEDs. There are roughly 1,063 AAVs in the fleet and the Marine Corps plans to upgrade about 400 of them, Scarlato said.
That number of vehicles is the requirement for a two Marine Expeditionary Brigade lift capability -- the service's forward deployable operational forces -- Marine Corps spokesman Manny Pacheco said during the same interview.
The current AAVs do have armor, but it is an applique solution that goes on the side of the vehicle to protect against direct fire weapons, Scarlato stated.
Scarlato said the service may have to conduct suspension upgrades as well because of the additional weight carried by the new armor. The armor upgrades will include underbelly armor, sponson armor and blast mitigating seats that are similar to those in a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle. However, he called force protection the "heart and soul" of the AAV upgrade.
The service plans to take a single increment approach to the upgrades. Once a vehicle is selected, all of the upgrades will be completed at one time. This approach was chosen because it is the most cost effective, he said.
Scarlato said the program has conducted industry days in the past that were beneficial. The program may host another one in the future or may meet one-on-one with vendors.
From 1997 to 2007 the Marine Corps conducted the reliability, availability, maintainability return to standard (RAM RS) project on the AAV which was a temporary capability upgrade, Boucher said.
The force protection upgrades will not extend the AAV's service life but will increase its capability, he added.
The FY-14 budget request seeks $43.4 million for the Marine Corps' AAV research and development. AAV upgrades are expected to enter the acquisition cycle at milestone B during FY-14 and then begin the engineering, manufacturing and development phase. Developmental testing is planned for late FY-15, according to the program executive officer for land system's advanced technology investment plan. -- Lee Hudson
Remember the Commandant saying he would drive the Amphibious Combat Vehicle before he left office?
The bastard lied.
