BAE Systems has received an $79 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to build and deliver production representative test vehicles (PRTVs) for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle Recovery (ACV-R) variant later this year. The ACV-R will provide direct field support, maintenance, and recovery to the ACV family of vehicles (FOVs). This contract award begins the second phase of the ACV-R program and kicks off the production of PRTVs which will support government testing next year. The prior contract award focused on the design and development of the recovery variant and was completed within the contracted 20-month period. ACV-R is equipped with a winch and crane and is capable of recovering vehicles weighing more than 30 tons.
BAE Systems and Iveco Defence Vehicles is currently in full-rate production with the ACV Personnel (ACV-P) variant and ACV Command and Control (ACV-C) variant, and recently delivered the first three ACV 30mm cannon (ACV-30) variant PRTVs to the Marine Corps for testing on January 31. The company continues to enhance future technology integration in ACV to increase Marine readiness and work collaboratively with the Marine Corps to ensure that all ACV mission variants are ready for future deployments. ACV-R production and support is taking place at BAE Systems locations in Stafford, Virginia.; San Jose, California; Sterling Heights, Michigan; Aiken, South Carolina; and, York, Pennsylvania.
“One of the most challenging things that can happen on the battlefield is for a vehicle to breakdown or need to be recovered. The ACV-R is a modern, highly capable recovery and mobile repair unit that provides critical expeditionary support to immobilized ACVs in the field and provides maintenance support capabilities without risking our Marines’ safety,” said Garrett Lacaillade, vice president of amphibious programs at BAE Systems.
The Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) is a program initiated by Marine Corps Systems Command to procure an amphibious assault vehicle for the United States Marine Corps to supplement and ultimately replace the aging Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV). The program replaces the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program canceled in 2011. Originally a plan to develop a high-water-speed vehicle, the program has expanded into a multi-phased approach to procure and develop several types of amphibious-capable vehicles to address near and long-term requirements. The competition for the project ended in 2018 with the birth of an eight-wheel drive armoured fighting vehicle, based on the Italian Iveco SuperAV. Production by BAE Systems and Iveco started in 2020 with 36 units, and 80 vehicles per year from 2021, for five years.
