Follow-on order ensures increased options, modernized capabilities for Armored Brigade Combat Teams
BAE Systems has received a $184 million contract modification to produce an additional 48 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles (AMPV) for the U.S. Army. The order is in addition to the existing full-rate production contract. The AMPV family of vehicles (FoV) replaces the Army’s legacy M113s and modernizes the force by providing critical survivability, mobility, on-board power and interoperability upgrades to the Armored Brigade Combat Team. In 2014, the U.S. Army selected BAE Systems’ proposal of a turretless variant of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle to replace over 2,800 M113s in service.
“Soldiers deserve advanced capabilities like the AMPV that have been successfully tested to accomplish the many mission roles they will serve in the formation,” said Bill Sheehy, AMPV program director for BAE Systems. “It’s remarkable to have advanced to this stage of full-rate production. We value our continued partnerships with the Army and our suppliers who work alongside us to ensure we keep producing these critical combat vehicles at higher, sustainable volumes.”
The AMPV is currently built in five variants including the General Purpose, Mortar Carrier, Medical Evacuation, Medical Treatment, and Mission Command vehicles. The AMPV aims to find a vehicle more versatile and mobile against a wide range of adversaries while having off-road mobility comparable to Bradleys and M1 Abrams tanks. In order to keep development costs down, the Army is requiring the vehicle be a commercial off-the-shelf design that can be incrementally improved. The vehicle would have new technologies including electronics, networking, and communications gear added onto the platform as they become available later.
In addition to full-rate production efforts, BAE Systems will soon finalize a large-scale expansion effort in York, Pennsylvania, which includes the AMPV production line. The expansion and multi-faceted engineering work across the Company’s industrial network provides the capacity and technology necessary to deliver the vehicles at greater rates for the U.S. and potential international customers. Work on the AMPV program takes place across BAE Systems’ industrial network, which includes facilities in Aiken, South Carolina; Anniston, Alabama; Phoenix, Arizona; Sterling Heights, Michigan; and York, Pennsylvania.
