{"id":18594,"date":"2018-09-24T01:15:18","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T01:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/24\/us-marine-corps-kills-amphibious-assault-vehicle-upgrade-program\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:44:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:44:52","slug":"us-marine-corps-kills-amphibious-assault-vehicle-upgrade-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2018\/09\/24\/us-marine-corps-kills-amphibious-assault-vehicle-upgrade-program\/","title":{"rendered":"US Marine Corps kills amphibious assault vehicle upgrade program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Marine Corps has killed its Amphibious Assault Vehicle survivability upgrade program<\/a> as it turns focus to the future and aligns with the new National Defense Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service executed a stop work order Aug. 27 to SAIC, which was under contract to perform survivability upgrades to the 40-plus-year-old AAV fleet to include new tracks to enhance mobility as well as increased underbelly armor, blast-mitigating seats, a new engine and transmission along with an assortment of suspension upgrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order \u201callows [SAIC] to finish the four production control modules that they were building,\u201d Marine Corps spokesman Manny Pacheco said in a statement sent to Defense News. \u201cThey have delivered three and we expect the fourth soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll other work will be terminated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAIC has already delivered 10 AAV Engineering and Manufacturing Development versions of the vehicle to the Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marine Corps has spent approximately $125 million to date on the AAV Survivability Upgrade, or SU, program and has now identified approximately $96 million in fiscal 2019 funding that the Defense Department and Congress will have to reprioritize, according to Pacheco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was to keep the vehicles alive into 2035 as the Marine Corps begins to bring online its new Amphibious Combat Vehicle, or ACV, that would slowly replace the AAVs over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in an effort to \u201cbetter align programs with the National Defense Strategy and congressional guidance to reduce investment in legacy programs and focus buying power on modernization, the Marine Corps made the decision to divest the AAV SU program,\u201d Pacheco said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AAV does not \u201cmeet the needs of modern Marine amphibious forcible entry operations,\u201d he said. \u201cRather than continue to invest in that vehicle that, even in upgraded form, will not provide adequate maneuverability, survivability, or ship-to-shore performance, the Marine Corps believes these funds would be better used elsewhere to support modernization initiatives across the force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision was also motivated by the expected mobility and survivability demonstrated by the ACV, along with planned lethality, \u201cwhich will ensure that our Marines have the firepower and survivability to succeed in the future fight,\u201d Pacheco added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReinvestment decisions will be made separately and focus on increasing lethality of the force,\u201d Pacheco explained. \u201cAAV SU divestiture assets may allow us to procure underfunded initiatives in the AAV modification line such as Tactical Communication Modernization and a Remote Weapons Station.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stop work order serves as another blow to SAIC, which lost in June a head-to-head competition to build the Marines\u2019 new ACV. BAE Systems was selected to build 30 low-rate initial production vehicles expected to be delivered by the fall of 2019, valued at $198 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\t