In order to provide field support, maintenance and recovery efforts for its Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs), the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) recently awarded a $79 million contract to BAE Systems to build and deliver test versions of an ACV Recovery variant this year.
These representative test vehicles (PRTVs) are key to the second phase of the ACV-R program and will support government testing in 2025. What sets ACV-Rs apart from their counterparts is a winch and crane system capable of recovering vehicles that weigh more than 30 tons.
“One of the most challenging things that can happen on the battlefield is for a vehicle to breakdown or need to be recovered,” Garrett Lacaillade, vice president of amphibious programs at BAE Systems, said. “The ACV-R is a modern, highly capable recovery and mobile repair unit that provides critical expeditionary support to immobilized ACVs in the field and provides maintenance support capabilities without risking our Marines’ safety.”
ACV-R production will take place at BAE Systems facilities in Virginia, California, Michigan, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Already, BAE and its partner – Iveco Defence Vehicles – are in full-rate production with the ACV Personnel (ACV-P) variant and the ACV Command and Control (ACV-C) variant.
Additionally, BAE Systems delivered another set of test vehicles for the USMC on Jan. 31 – the first three ACV variants with 30mm cannons.