BAE delivers ACV-30 production-representative test vehicle to Marine Corps

BAE Systems has delivered a new Amphibious Combat Vehicle variant to the Marine Corps, providing a production-representative test vehicle equipped with a 30mm cannon for government testing, according to a Thursday company announcement.

The ACV-30 is the third variant in the ACV vehicle family, currently being fielded by the Marine Corps. The ACV-30 is equipped with a stabilized, medium-caliber, remote turret system produced by Norwegian company Kongsberg.

The system “provides the lethality and protection Marines need while leaving ample room for troop capacity and payload while keeping the crew under armor,” BAE’s announcement states. “The remote turret eliminates the space requirement of legacy turreted cannon systems and provides more room to transport troops or mission essential equipment and reduces weight for better mobility.”

BAE, the prime contractor for the ACV program, has already entered full-rate production of two earlier vehicle variants: personnel carrier (ACV-P) and command and control (ACV-C) versions. The company delivered more than 70 ACV-Ps in FY-23 and announced it had delivered its first full-rate production ACV-C last month.

BAE is also on contract to design and develop a fourth ACV-R recovery variant, intended to provide field support and maintenance for the vehicle family.

Designed as a replacement for the legacy amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) with improved ocean swim, survivability and technical capabilities, the ACV family is an important piece of the Marine Corps’ force design plans, especially as an armored connector in the Indo-Pacific.

But the platform has struggled with a series of training incidents. Over the past year, multiple ACV rollovers occurred during waterborne training, prompting the Marine Corps to launch an effort to retrain and recertify vehicle operators. More recently, a Marine was killed in an ACV rollover on land.

Despite these incidents, last week Assistant Commandant Gen. Christopher Mahoney said the Marine Corps remains confident in the platform, attributing these accidents largely to inadequate operator training rather than material problems with the vehicles. The Marine Corps has resumed “protected waterborne operations” with the ACV and is preparing to deploy the vehicles to the 15th MEU, Mahoney said.

The Marine Corps’ FY-24 budget request includes $557.5 million for 80 more ACVs and predicts procurement will exceed 100 vehicles in FY-25.