Frankenstein ACV

The Marines plan to sacrifice one of their Amphibious Assault Vehicles to be cannibalized by industry as an Amphibious Combat Vehicle technology demonstrator, according to responses to "industry day" questions posted on the Program Executive Office Land Systems website.

The document says the effort will be modeled on the Marine Personnel Carrier tech demonstrator, which bloomed in the Nevada Automotive Test Center desert as the Marines waited for a green light to officially start the program.

"The provision of AAVS loan to a selected Contractor may be considered as part of the acquisition strategy," the Q&A states. "Furthermore, the USMC is considering the value of providing fully or partially functional vehicles or vehicle hulls as a potential approach for both the development of a Technology Demonstrator and the design integration phase for the ACV."

Many of the requirements for the ACV have yet to be determined, although the program office says an initial capabilities document should be out this summer.

However, the Q&A states the Marines are pondering a medium-caliber cannon with a secondary coaxial weapon for lethality, and it also mentions that the Naval Surface Warfare, Crane Division is currently working on an Improved Up-gunned Weapons Station.

The program also has the option of using technology harvested from the Marines' former favorite brainchild, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, which met its demise under the budget ax earlier this year. The document notes, however, that the EFV "is not necessarily the baseline from which the ACV will be derived."

The AAV, ACV and MPC will all be under one programmatic roof, according to the Q&A. The Marine Corps has pinpointed 26 areas that are ripe for commonality and expect industry partners to exploit them.

The document hints that technology used on the trio of swimmers could have other applications as well.

"[W]e are certainly interested in the potential cost savings (either [research and development] or procurement) associated with commonality with other vehicles across the [Defense Department], such as the [Army's Ground Combat Vehicle]," the list states.

This didn't meet universal acceptance among industry day attendees, evidently.

"Competition is the enemy of commonality," one attendee wrote in as a question. "US [government]/USMC goals are a dichotomy. What will give?"

The program office replied that the Marines plan to develop common interfaces for "form, fit and function" wherever they can, and expected industry teams to work collaboratively.

"Industry should be looking at a new business model to support this approach," the office warned.