BAE Systems is preparing to offer a Bradley-based tracked vehicle with specific improvements for the Army’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) competition, which is expected to replace the M113 family of vehicles (FoV) and address capability gaps in the Heavy Brigade Combat Teams (HBCT).
The Army has said it expects to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) no earlier than the first quarter of 2013.
A Bradley-based AMPV would be a mature, low risk and cost-effective solution, said Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager Ground Combat Vehicles at BAE, with improvements to address combat survivability, force protection and mobility to fight with the HBCT.
Additionally, he said, the BAE AMPV offering would incorporate an ability to grow and modernize, in line with Bradley fleet upgrades or improvements.
The Army has made it clear it expects to apply Defense Department “better buying power” initiatives such as affordability as a requirement and “should cost” management.
The draft statement of work said the Army wants to achieve an Average Unit Manufacturing Cost (AUMC) no greater than $1.8 million in base year 2012 dollars, while maximizing performance. Additionally, the service wants 57 percent component commonality. There have been no production decisions yet, considering production starts in the time period between Fiscal Year 2015 to 2017, all depending on what industry proposes.
Signorelli said the M113 the land force wants to replace is actually the predecessor of today’s Bradley tracked vehicle.
The M113, weighing about 16 tons, is not heavily protected, he said. The M113 started off as an infantry carrier and expanded its variants to fulfill a variety of roles, as did the Bradley, which came afterward.
The AMPV also is expected to provide multiple variants for specific mission roles within HBCT, as now fulfilled by the M113. Such mission roles would be: general purpose, medical evacuation, medical treatment, mortar carrier, and mission command (Defense Daily, March 16).
The AMPV FoV must fill current and potential future capability caps such as force protection, mobility, reliability, and interoperability. The vehicles also must be network-enabled and have the ability to carry additional command and control, computers, communications lethal and able to overmatch similar systems.
Common requirements include force protection, armor, mobility, network enabled and the ability to host additional command and control, computers, communications, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities embedded at all levels from soldier to brigade.
Utilizing the Bradley with improvements, Signorelli said, would offer the service such things as parts commonality with the Bradley FoV already in the inventory. Additionally, training would be essentially the same as for Bradleys.
“We’d build the AMPV on the same line as the Bradley,” and also could convert some of the excess Bradley vehicles the service has in its inventory, Signorelli said.
While BAE is in the technology demonstration phase of the Ground Combat Vehicle program for the Army, what it learns could transfer into the AMPV effort. “We want to produce the best solution for the Army for brigade combat teams, including common reduction of logistics and cost across the entire team,” he said.
While the service ideally would like a non-developmental item as it would reduce cost and risk, it is open to developmental vehicles that could be developed and delivered within the time, cost and risk parameters the service requires.