BAE Systems and Iveco awarded US Marine Corps ACV 1.1 development contract
BAE Systems and Iveco Defence Vehicles, will deliver a solution that will be built from the ground up to be an amphibious vehicle and will provide significant capability improvements to satisfy the Marine Corps’ current and future needs.
“We are proud to continue our long history of providing the Marine Corps with superior amphibious capabilities,” said Deepak Bazaz, director of new and amphibious vehicles at BAE Systems. “Our vehicle was designed to be fully amphibious with exceptional ground mobility and protection. Our ACV solution will provide the Marine Corps with a mature, cost-effective solution with significant growth capacity.”
The award is one of two EMD contracts issued. During this phase, BAE Systems will produce 16 prototypes that will be tested by the Marine Corps beginning in the third quarter of 2016. Work on the vehicles will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Quantico, Virginia; San Jose, California; and York, Pennsylvania.
BAE Systems’ ACV 1.1 solution is an advanced 8x8 open ocean-capable vehicle that is based on a platform developed by Iveco Defence Vehicles. It is equipped with a new six-cylinder, 700HP power pack, which provides a significant power increase over the current Assault Amphibious Vehicle. The vehicle performs best in class mobility in all terrains and has a suspended interior seat structure for 13 embarked Marines, blast mitigating positions for a crew of three, and improved survivability and force protection over currently fielded systems.
The team has conducted extensive risk mitigation testing and evaluation for swim, land mobility, and survivability capabilities that have proven the solution’s capabilities.
"We are proud to start a new chapter of our history in this industry by providing, together with BAE Systems, the Marine Corps with superior amphibious capabilities," said Vincenzo Giannelli, President & CEO of Iveco Defence Vehicles. "Our platform was designed to be fully amphibious with exceptional ground mobility and protection. It will provide the Marine Corps with a mature, cost-effective solution with significant growth capacity."
BAE Systems has more than 70 years of experience designing and building amphibious vehicles and is a leading provider of combat vehicles, having produced over 100,000 systems for customers worldwide.
Iveco Defence Vehicles brings additional proven experience, having designed and built more than 30,000 multi-purpose, protected, and armoured military vehicles in service today.