BAE Systems has submitted a survivable, low-risk proposal for the US Army’s armoured multi-purpose vehicle (AMPV) programme.
Capitalising on the proven Bradley and Paladin integrated management (PIM) designs, BAE’s AMPV is a mature, low-risk and cost-effective solution, which is reportedly capable of addressing the army’s force protection and all-terrain mobility requirements.
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Scheduled to be integrated into the army’s armoured brigade combat team (ABCT), the AMPV is able to operate alongside the rest of the ABCT platforms, including the M1 Abrams tank and the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (IFV).
In addition, BAE has maximised commonality within the AMPV family of vehicles and the ABCT to mitigate risk and provide significant lifecycle cost savings.
BAE Systems Combat Vehicles vice-president and general manager Mark Signorelli said the proposal is the culmination of over 15 years of concept development and validation, and two years of internal development and responses to the army.
"Our AMPV proposal provides an affordable, low-risk solution that is ready now and meets the army’s survivability, force protection and mobility requirements," Signorelli said.
BAE Systems AMPV capture director Greg Mole said the company built and demonstrated prototypes for each of the five variants in order to provide the best solution.
"Given the maturity of our design and the commonality, both within the AMPV and ABCT fleets, we feel this offers significant opportunity to accelerate the programme’s schedule," Mole said.
The AMPV programme is an army initiative to replace the Vietnam-era M113 armoured personnel carriers (APC) and family of vehicles, and has been identified as a top priority for the safety and survivability of soldiers.
An initial contract for the 52-month engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) phase is expected to be awarded in January 2015, with prototype delivery planned in the next two years.
The BAE AMPV team also includes DRS Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Air Methods and Red River Army Depot.
In addition, the AMPV solution also includes proven powertrain and drivetrain components from Cummins, L3 Communications and LOC Performance, which support the ABCT industrial base.
Image: BAE’s AMPV solution features commonality with the US Army’s armoured brigade combat team platforms. Photo: courtesy of BAE Systems.
