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Marine Corps Moves On From EFV To Three New Amphibious-Vehicle Efforts

By Emelie Rutherford

The Marine Corps is busy with its revamped plans for amphibious vehicles, with its major effort to plan a new Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) taking shape follow the recent completion of a major study. Col. Keith Moore, Marine Corps program manager for advanced amphibious assault (PM AAA), is just wrapping up the very final stages of the service’s contractual relationship with General Dynamics [GD] for the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. The EFV, a tracked amphibious vehicle that battled technical challenges earlier in its decade-long development lifespan, ultimately was canceled last year by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates because of its cost. It was intended to be a swimmable armored vehicle that would quickly carry combat-ready Marines to land from ships far off shore. Now Moore is guiding three successor amphibious vehicle efforts that are at various stages: the nascent ACV, which is intended to be a more-affordable alternative to EFV, as well as an upgraded version of the existing Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) and a new, likely off-the-shelf wheeled Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC). It’s the ACV that is taking up the bulk of Moore’s time. Service officials have completed an analysis of alternatives (AoA) on six types of vehicles that could be the ACV. The AoA document was approved out of the Marine Corps and awaiting final briefings to congressional and Pentagon officials as of this writing. After the AoA briefings are done, Moore plans to go before the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) later this fall for in-process review of the development path forward. Armed with a draft of the ACV’s capabilities definition document, Moore is hoping the DAB meeting will clear the way for releasing the first request for proposals (RFP) for the initial ACV development contracts with

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▶ Continued from page 1 industry. Moore, in an interview, said the AoA “reaffirms the need for a self-deploying amphibian for the force.” “There were non-self-deploying alternatives that were part of the analysis of alternatives,” he said. And the AoA “reaffirmed that the timelines for getting ship-to-shore, the cost that that would impose on the Navy for connectors, for amphibious shipping and all that, it just makes that not a viable option. So you’re back into (understanding that) you need a self-deployer.” Moore said he was not surprised by the AoA’s findings. “I think most of us that have been around this business expect that the answer was going to be a self-deployer,” he said. “What the specific thing ends up looking like, that’s sort of the next turn of the crank.” The AoA examined six vehicle options: developing no vehicle and sticking with the current setup, reviving the EFV, using an MPC-type wheeled vehicle with a ship-to-short connector to get it ashore, creating a significantly- improved AAV, and designing and building an amphibious-combat vehicle--with two alternatives for this last option. The final AoA does not recommend pursing the MPC-type vehicle with a ship-to-shore connector or sticking with the current setup, Moore said. The EFV also is not looked upon favorably because of its high cost. The document thus shows the two new-design vehicles and super-improved AAV “typically do fairly well,” with “some doing better than others depending on the exact scenario,” he said. Moving beyond the AoA, to determine what the right solution set is, “is now going to require engagement with industry, additional contractual engineering efforts so that we can actually figure out where…the most cost-effective point is…within the continuum of capabilities that these vehicles” possess, he said. Meanwhile, plans to upgrade existing AAVs, which were first fielded in 1972, are moving forward. The effort is intended to improve the survivability and land-and-water mobility of the vehicle as the service waits for the successor ACV to be built. Moore said he expects Marine Corps Combat Development Command will have the requirements for the AAV upgrade effort completed by the end of this calendar year. After that, he hopes officials advance the program to the Milestone B phase of development so the service can award engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contracts to companies. The Marine Corps already has worked with industry on the AAV upgrade effort, in recent weeks awarding four companies trade-studies contracts that allow them to work on the existing vehicles. “The product out of this trade study is their best estimate as to what sort of things (are possible) and how they would go about enhancing the survivability of the platform,” Moore said. That will help answer questions like “Are we asking for something that’s just unachievable by some law of physics?” and whether the upgrade can be completed with available funding, he said. “We’ve been trying to do a lot of up-front work with these trade studies and all so that everybody on both government and industry is leaning forward so that we can get all the engineering work done as quickly as possible,” he said. One example of an AAV improvement the service is examining is a way to better protect the underbelly of the vehicle from improvised explosive devices. Industry also is working with Moore’s team on the wheeled MPC, which the service is thinking will be largely off-the-shelf, based on an existing vehicle with slight tweaks. The MPC “will be effective across the range of military operations during sustained operations ashore and rein- force the assault echelon during forcible-entry operations,” according to Moore’s office. It and the ACV are intended together to serve as replacements for the legacy AAVs. Four companies--BAE, General Dynamics Land Systems, SAIC [SAI], and Lockheed Martin [LMT]--have been under contract since January to provide the Marine Corps market-research data on the MPC. Each firm will provide an existing vehicle that is run through a government test program that looks at factors such as its capability for tra- versing water. “We wanted to see what’s out there and available in that area,” Moore said. He said testers need to ensure U.S. Marines can fit in the potential MPCs, some of which are built in parts of the world for people of smaller statures. Moore also said he is looking forward to putting the vehicles through ▶ Continued on page 4

www.defensedaily.com September 25, 2012 Defense Daily ® Page 4

▶ Continued from page 2 live-fire testing to ensure they are as survivable as their builders claim. And he wants to learn where potential MPC contractors would build the vehicles in the United States, because they may not have manufacturing facilities here. Moore, meanwhile, is saying goodbye to the remnants of the EFV program. The final contract with General Dynamics finishes out at the end of September. “Most of the effort over the last month, month and a half, has really been dispositioning all of the various equipment and materiel that accreted over the course of the program,” he said earlier this month. As Washington is abuzz with talks about the Pentagon budget, Moore said he does not know how potential sequestration budget cuts would impact his portfolio of vehicle programs. The sequestration cuts are the $1.2 trillion in longterm government spending reductions--$500 billion of which would come from previously-projected defense funding--brought about by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The budget law already cut $487 billion from decade-long defense spending plans. President Barack Obama does not support sequestration and wants Congress to agree on an alternate budget- cutting plan before the cuts would start in January. Pentagon officials insist they are not planning for the sequestration cuts. “I have no guidance on what sequestration might mean for me and my programs,” Moore said. “Nobody’s come down and said, ‘Hey, if this happens you’re going to go from a budget of this to a budget of this, so figure out how to live with it.’ So sort of in the absence of that, it’s the whole range of uncertainty.” “At my level,” he added, “it’s sort of impossible to do anything other than just be aware that you’re likely to have to make changes to whatever your plan is.” !

Lockheed Martin Moves Ahead On JLTV By Ann Roosevelt

Parts are arriving and work has begun on the Lockheed Martin [LMT] offering for the Army-Marine Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), and a model is on display at the Modern Day Marine Exhibition. “The great accomplishment that the Army and Marine Corps were able to achieve…last year was to reconcile the differences in their requirements, and come together on a common set of requirements that formed the basis for the solicitation,” Kathryn Hasse, director, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Program for Lockheed Martin, told Defense Daily. Since late August, Lockheed Martin has been working under a $66.3 million JLTV engineering and manufacturing development contract (Defense Daily, Aug. 23, 24). It is competing against AM General and Oshkosh Corp. (OSK). The JLTV is basically the same model for both the Army and Marines, then there are mission kits--think bolt on, Hasse said, for each force. Depending on the mission, the vehicle would be configured differently. The base requirements have historically been of most importance, she said. The Marines are concerned about vehicle weight, something important to the Corps’ ability to be an expeditionary force. All the JLTV vehicles have to achieve 14,000 pounds, she said. As a gauge, consider that the first M-ATV had to weight 24,000 to 25,000 pounds. The JLTV also has a requirement to achieve the same level of blast protection as the smallest Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle--the M-ATV. Lockheed Martin’s JLTV offering features an innovative hull design, Hasse said, not the traditional V-hull. That speaks to the second part of the transportability issue, he added. The JLTV must be able to be put on Prepositioned Ships, which means the vehicle has to achieve a 76-inch ride height. This leads to design work for the vehicle’s blast protection, where there is a “strong relationship between how far off the ground you are as well as the materials you are using,” she said. Lockheed Martin has taken a systems approach with an independent airbag suspension system, which covers a variable ride height, with about 16 inches of travel in it from the highest point of air on a “tip-toe” setting to lowest setting, she said. This ability gives the vehicle enough clearance to go over ramps to a ship, and to achieve the 76- inch

www.defensedaily.com September 25, 2012 Defense Daily ® Page 5 height requirement and also allows a standoff distance from the point of blast. The work is moving quickly. “We have to deliver our first 20 vehicles in less than 12 months,” Hasse said. “We are very focused on ensuring we can deliver our vehicles on schedule, along with quite a number of other contract deliverables.” The first two deliverables were made on schedule, providing the government with some models and the results of some analysis. As Modern Day Marine takes place, Lockheed Martin takes part in a Start of Work meeting, to do things such as to finalize program data, go through a systems requirements review examining every single technical requirement, and discussing the company’s approach. Hasse said Lockheed Martin and teammate BAE Systems believe they have a proven vehicle for the Army and Marines, with a successful design in the Technology Development phase. A significant amount of work has been done to optimize that design, and at the same time the team is achieving affordability targets. “We’re in position, proven, and ready to perform,” she said. !

Lockheed Martin Unveils Marine Personnel Carrier Offering By Ann Roosevelt

Lockheed Martin [LMT] unveils its armored, modular Havoc 8x8, a combat proven vehicle of modular design that the company is offering for the Marine Personnel Carrier at the Modern Day Marine Exhibition. “The Marines have a vision, they want a commercial-off-the-shelf vehicle that meets requirements that they can get in place quickly, and we believe we have that solution for them,” Ric Magness, manager Havoc 8x8 (MPC) Program Director for Lockheed Martin, told Defense Daily. ▶ Continued on page 6

Agility to Innovate, Strength to Deliver

www.defensedaily.com September 25, 2012 ® Page 6 Defense Daily TASC.COM ▶ Continued from page 5 In mid-August the company received an eight-month, $3.5 million contract from the Marines to test and vali- date the Havoc as part of the MPC program. During the evaluation, the Marines will verify human factors and amphibious capabilities of Lockheed Martin’s vehicle at the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Other protection evaluations will occur at the Nevada Automotive Test Center (NATC) in Carson City, Nev., and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Lockheed Martin is vying with BAE Systems, SAIC [SAI] and General Dynamics [GD] for the vehicle program. Lockheed Martin has teamed with Finland’s Patria, the design authority on the Havoc, which is based on the 8x8 Armored Modular Vehicle in service in six countries today. The vehicle has been deployed with Polish forces in Afghanistan, Magness said. In joint operations with U.S. forces, it has seen quite a bit of combat. The modular vehicle can get up to 60-65 miles an hour on land, and five knots on water. Havoc has a removable roof plate, and on exhibit will be some of the choices for a weapons station. To date, the Marines have not made a specific choice. Havoc can use a one or two-man turret, such as Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace’s Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station (CROWS) or Textron’s [TXT] one-man turret now on its Armored Security Vehicle. Another choice could be the Marines’ 120mm mortar. It’s very easy to replace the weapons station, Magness said. Patria is “particularly proud” that the “95 percentile U.S. Marine” with his body armor, Havoc Vehicle, Courtesy of Lockheed Martin helmet and kit, fits comfortably in the vehicle, he said. Patria made sure the vehicle would be able to accommodate nine U.S. Marines in the back. As well, the vehicle is big enough to carry two days-worth of stores To solve big problems you need to see the big picture. onboard, such as water, ammunition and food. You also need an eye for detail. Also, Patria has added cameras on the hull about the level of the water, so when Havoc is in the water, Marines inside can see the horizon, or what’s nearby, something that helps stave off seasickness. Additionally, in the water, the At TASC we deliver the strategic vision and engineering vehicle’s eight wheels don’t fold, they “droop,” forming a sort of keel, which helps stability, he said. knowhow needed to develop next generation solutions Lockheed Martin has done much testing on its own, using internal funding. that balance performance, affordability and resiliency in This first contract with the Marines will demonstrate performance, including such things as human factors, the meeting mission requirements. ability to carry nine Marines in full kit. The same vehicle also will undergo amphibious testing, a repeat of company tests done in 2009. Here the vehicle will demonstrate the ability to “swim,” and plunge the front end into a wave By combining extensive intelligence and cyber and come back up. The company team does the driving and any needed repair, while Marines will provide the test expertise with practical insights and proven systems monitoring and equipment. engineering and integration processes, we help our After this part of the work is done, Lockheed Martin will deliver a blast hull and armor coupons to the NATC customers develop holistic solutions that extend beyond organizational boundaries to protect the nation and our where they will be subject to direct fire, blast, and fire. They must be able to survive different threats. forces around the globe. “The Marines are just trying see what the state-of-the-art is today,” to refine the requirements for the next phase—engineering and manufacturing development (EMD), Magness said. For EMD, Dowty said Patria would build the vehicles in Finland. Should the team win the competition, Patria would build the first few production vehicles in Finland, but then the line would transition to the United States, where Lockheed Martin would use its production facilities in Dallas, Texas and Camden, Ark. !

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