A new Amphibious Combat Vehicle that is undergoing testing by the U.S. Marine Corps includes a PROTECTOR remote turret (RT-20) from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. BAE Systems delivered the first production representative test vehicle (PRTV) of the new Amphibious Combat Vehicle 30mm Cannon (ACV-30) to the customer earlier this year. ACV-30 is the third variant in the ACV family of vehicles designed, developed, and built since BAE Systems was selected as the prime contractor for the program in 2018. The vehicle mounts a stabilized, medium caliber Remote Turret System manufactured by KONGSBERG that provides the lethality and protection Marines need while leaving ample room for troop capacity and payload while keeping the crew under armor. The remote turret eliminates the space requirement of legacy turreted cannon systems and provides more room to transport troops and associated mission essential equipment and reduces weight for better mobility.
“Delivering capability like the ACV-30 to the U.S. Marine Corps remains critical in the ever-changing battle space. The collaboration we have with Kongsberg on this PRTV enables our customer to see and test a modern and lethal firepower technology on the battlefield,” said Garrett Lacaillade, vice president of the amphibious vehicles product line for BAE Systems.
“We are proud to be working with BAE Systems and partners on a vehicle and weapon system that will increase the USMC firepower and the capacity to the Marines. The PROTECTOR RT-20 is a modern remotely operated turret with highly accurate firepower for wheeled, tracked, and robotic combat vehicles. The modularity and digitalization of the system has growth potential to incorporate new technologies to deter and defeat future threats,” said Jørgen Bull, Vice President, land systems at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
The PROTECTOR family includes three Remote Turret (RT) variants, the RT20, RT40 and RT60. The systems can be tailored to meet customer-specific requirements, – including key elements like protection level, sensor performance and whether operated by a single or multiple operators. Despite their differences all variants share great commonality in terms of system components and fire control architecture – the latter allowing all to be wirelessly operated when integrated on an unmanned vehicle. The RT20 is a compact and light weight turret system including the latest KONGSBERG technology within fire control, sensor capability and lethality performance. The RT20 has been selected as the 30mm lethality solution for the USMC Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) program, and is fully marinized to allow operations in marine environments. Like all systems in the PROTECTOR family, the Remote Turrets benefit from KONGSBERGs 20+ years’ experience as the world’s leading provider of Remote Weapon 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 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. 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.
