An Amphibious Combat Vehicle manoeuvres into the water during the ACV Operators Certification Course at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, July, 2023. Credit: US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl Mhecaela Watts

BAE Systems Land & Armaments has been awarded a $181.8m firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise options for the full rate production (FRP) of 34 Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) for the US Marine Corps (USMC).

Work on the 34 FRP ACVs, which will be manufactured in the personnel variant, will be completed by July 2026, according to a contract notice published by the US Department of Defense (DoD). Including the news contract modification, the total cumulative face value of the programme is in excess of $2.7bn.

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The ACV programme was initiated by the USMC in 2011 to replace its amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) family, which entered service in 1972. The 8×8 wheeled ACV has been designed and manufactured by BAE Systems in the US, in collaboration with Italy-based Iveco Defence Vehicles.

The USMC approved the ACV’s initial operational capability in November 2020, with the vehicle designed to accommodate three crew members and 13 dismounted troops.

A $198m contract was awarded to BAE Systems in June 2018 for an initial delivery of 30 ACVs, with an option to deliver up to 204 vehicles worth $1.2bn.

ACV mission variants

The ACV has also been developed with Command (ACV-C), Repair (ACV-R), and ACV 30mm (ACV-30) variants, with the ACV-C intended to support command and control while on operations. The first ACV-C was delivered to the USMC for testing in February 2021.

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Production Representative Test Vehicles (PRTVs) are currently in production for the ACV-30 variants, which sees the ACV fitted with a Kongsberg-manufactured remotely operated 30mm turreted main gun.

ACV-R will offer field maintenance, recovery, and repair capabilities to USMC formations, replacing the Assault Amphibious Vehicle recovery variant (AAVR7A1) in the field.

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