BAE and SAIC both win contracts for USMC next-gen amphib vehicle

BAE Systems and Science Applications International Corp. have both won multimillion-dollar contracts for the Marine Corps' lucrative next-generation amphibious vehicle competition to build 13 prototypes apiece, according to a Defense Department contract announcement.

While the service intends for the contractors to each build 16 prototypes, under the congressional continuing resolution the government is now operating under, the Marine Corps does not have an adequate amount of funding for the other six vehicles, John Garner, the service's advanced amphibious assault program manager, told reporters during a Nov. 24 briefing.

BAE's contract is for $103.8 million, while SAIC's contract is for $121.5 million, according to the announcement.

The contracts include options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of BAE's contract to $1.109 billion and SAIC's to $1.185 billion.

Five companies competed for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle Increment 1.1 engineering and manufacturing development phase. The Marine Corps downselected "after a very rigorous and thorough evaluation of competitor proposals . . . to companies who clearly offer the best value selections," William Taylor, program executive officer for land systems, told reporters during the same teleconference, which took place prior to the announcement of the contract award.

The key to the ACV Increment 1.1 program is that the service views it as an integration effort and not a development program, he added.
"Having attained a successful milestone B decision just last week the ACV program team has demonstrated that they have met the rigorous requirements needed to take the program into the engineering and manufacturing development phase or EMD," Taylor said.

The first prototypes will be delivered to the Marines in January 2017 with the remainder of the prototypes arriving in late March or early April. The operational assessment will kick off in the beginning of FY-18, Garner said.

Testing will help the Marines refine the next iteration of the ACV program -- ACV Increment 1.2, Brig. Gen. (sel.) Roger Turner, capabilities development director, said during the same media availability.

Garner told reporters the program office hosted three industry days, released multiple requests for information and issued three requests for proposals for the effort.

"The end result is we made a selection of very capable vehicles at what we consider to be an affordable price for the Marine Corps," he added.

The source-selection decision included technical experts in each area, requirements personnel, operators and finance officials, Garner said.

Taylor said having various stakeholder's take ownership in the source-selection process was "extremely beneficial."

"We had total consensus across all the stakeholders," he added.

BAE Systems participated in the now-canceled Marine Personnel Carrier program, which was a robust swimmer wheeled vehicle competition.

"There were no major improvements made to the vehicle because even then, the vehicle met the requirements set for ACV 1.1," John Swift, BAE Systems program director, told reporters Sept. 22 during Modern Day Marine military exposition at Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA.

The company's offering has completed 4,000 land miles of testing and 700 hours of testing in swim mode, he added. BAE teamed up with Italian defense vehicle manufacturer Iveco for the design and built the vehicle at a facility in Santa Clara, CA.

Swift said the vehicle has a V-shaped hull for added protection and it was designed to be enhanced to meet the needs of the Marine Corps' ACV Increment 1.2 requirements.

Science Applications International Corp. also competed in the Marine Corps' MPC program with what it called the Terrex. SAIC is teamed up with Singapore Technology Kinetics for its offering. For the ACV Increment 1.1 competition the bid is for the next-generation Terrex or Terrex 2, Tom Watson, senior vice president and general manager of SAIC's Navy and Marine Corps customer group, told Inside the Navy during a Sept. 25 interview.

During the MPC competition, Watson said, the Terrex did not have a good survivability level, but the Terrex 2 is a much more survivable solution with a V-hull.

Terrex 2 also will have a higher speed in the water than the previous version as well as additional reserve buoyancy and stability in the water.

Advanced Defense Vehicle Systems told ITN May 19 that it submitted a proposal for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle Increment 1.1 program. ADVS is a Lake Orion, MI-based tactical wheeled vehicle manufacturer. ADVS is partnered with Textron Systems and IR Technologies as subcontractors in a supporting role. ADVS showcased its ACV Increment 1.1 offering to senior Marine Corps leadership during demonstrations held earlier this year at a private test facility, a service official told ITN in April.

The company bid for the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program but subsequently withdrew, blaming the service's expensive and drawn-out acquisition plan,

 Defense reported in January 2011.

The Modern Day Marine military exposition was the first time General Dynamics Land Systems displayed its offering for ACV Increment 1.1 to the public. GDLS has independently tested the launch and recovery capability of its vehicle, Phil Skuta, U.S. Marine Corps and Navy director for the company, told ITN during a Sept. 23 interview.

The vehicle includes double V hull technology, filtered air system, Caterpillar engine, Allison transmission and a mechanical swim drive, he said.

Skuta said the company has built over 10,000 8 X 8 combat vehicles, which will lower the risk and cost for the service, he added.

Lockheed Martin revealed Sept. 22 it has partnered with Caterpillar, Horstman and Merrill Industry for its ACV Increment 1.1 offering.

Lockheed is "keenly aware of the requirements and mission, Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles for Lockheed, told ITN. The vehicle has been through internal testing but Greene declined to get into specifics because the competition is ongoing.

The Marine Corps was not present at any of the testing, Greene added, and Lockheed plans to perform additional risk reduction testing between now and the contract award.

ITN reported this summer that Lockheed Martin had dissolved its partnership with Finnish vehicle manufacturer Patria.

Greene said the split was mutual and the partnership was terminated early this summer. He said that by the end of the partnership, the two companies' strategic objectives had changed. However, he said "Patria is a great company," and if given the chance he would do business with them again in the future.