BAE wins US Army AMPV

The US Army’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) programme has gone to BAE Systems after a long fought campaign against rival General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS).

BAE was awarded a contract for Engineering, Manufacturing, and Development (EMD) and Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of the vehicle on 23 December. The contract is worth up to $1.2 billion.

This could be seen as revenge for BAE Systems which lost out to GDLS in the UK when the latter secured the British Army’s Scout SV armoured vehicle programme.

For AMPV, GDLS was pushing the wheeled Stryker 8x8 platform as its solution, whilst BAE focussed on the early Bradley IFV hulls. Even as late as January 2014 GDLS was going for a mix of modified Strykers and modified Bradleys.

When the RFP was released and did not reflect that mix concept GDLS declined to submit a proposal. Their new focus is on pitching Strykers to fill the remaining gap between the AMPVs and the remaining M113 fleet. At AUSA Annual in October GDLS displayed a wheeled Stryker NBC vehicle that was part of their pitch.

Meanwhile the AMPV will replace the M113 fleet with variants from a family of vehicles based on BAE Systems’ Bradley and M109A7 designs. This is intended to meet the US Army’s force protection and all-terrain mobility requirements while enabling the AMPV to manoeuvre with the rest of the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT).

Under the $383 million 52-month base term initial award, BAE Systems will produce 29 vehicles across each of the variants.  The award also provides an option to begin the LRIP phase immediately following the current EMD phase, at which time the company would produce an additional 289 vehicles for a total contract value of $1.2 billion.

Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager of Combat Vehicles at BAE Systems, said: ‘This award represents a significant milestone for the US Army and BAE Systems. The AMPV will provide a substantial upgrade over the army’s current personnel carrier fleet, increasing the service’s survivability, force protection, and mobility while providing for future growth potential. It also confirms BAE Systems’ role as a leading provider of combat vehicles.’

The vehicle’s maximised commonality within the AMPV family of vehicles and the ABCT will reduce risk and provide significant cost savings to the army.

The BAE Systems AMPV team includes DRS Technologies, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Air Methods Corporation, and Red River Army Depot.