AAV upgrades may serve as EFV backup plan

Amphibious Assault Vehicles, shown above, may be further upgraded in the event the troubled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program is cancelled.


AAV upgrades may serve as EFV backup plan
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Nov 28, 2009 15:42:06 EST

Marine officials are considering upgrades to amphibious assault vehicles, raising questions about whether the Corps is planning ahead in case the embattled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, expected to take the AAV’s place, is cancelled.

The Corps completed a 10-year, $300-million-plus overhaul of AAVs in 2007, extending the life of a fleet needed for at least another six years, when the EFV, manufactured by General Dynamics, is expected to be ready for combat. The new upgrades would modernize those same AAVs, although it remains unclear how long their service life would be extended. The majority of the 1,300-vehicle fleet was fielded at the tail end of the Vietnam War, from 1972-75, with 167 more built in the early 1980s, Marine officials said.

While the Corps says the EFV is back on track after years of developmental setbacks, the service recently issued a notice to industry that it will begin seeking options Monday to improve AAV armor, computer systems and other parts of the vehicle. No decisions have been made, but spending money on AAV upgrades would be difficult to do if the Corps plans simultaneously to complete existing projects such as the EFV and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a four-wheeled armored truck expected to replace the Humvee, defense analysts said.

“All of these vehicle programs they have are expensive,” said retired Lt. Col. Dakota Wood, a past critic of the EFV and analyst for the non-partisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C. “The only rationale for trying to modernize the AAV is that is working under the assumption that the EFV might be cancelled or significantly delayed.”

Marine officials would not say whether the possible AAV upgrades are tied to delays of the EFV, an amphibious armored troop carrier designed to deliver combat-ready Marines from Navy ships to enemy shores at speeds of up to 29 mph.


REst of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marine_aav_efv_112809w/