03/31/2014: U.S. Marines with Combined Assault Battalion, III Marines Expeditionary Force conducted Mark-19 and M2-50 Cal training on Assault Amphibious Vehicles in support of Exercise Ssang Yong 14 at Suesongri Range, Pohang, South Korea, March 27, 2014.
Exercise SsangYong 14 is conducted in South Korea to showcase a full spectrum of amphibious operations while showcasing sea-based power projection in the pacific. (U.S. Marine CorpsMotion Imagery by Private First Class Lyman M. Green)
Credit:III Marine Expeditionary Force Combat Camera:3/27/14
The Commandant of the USMC, General Amos, has renewed the call for a replacement amphibious vehicle. But he is focusing on an affordable, off the shelf capability.
According to an article by Meagan Eckstein in a Defense Daily piece published March 26, 2014:
The Marine Corps is planning its Increment 1 and 2 Amphibious Combat Vehicles around a design used in foreign militaries and built by several manufacturers, some of which have open production lines, Commandant of the Marine Gen. James Amos told Defense Daily after a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
What I hope is we can get Increment 1, some number200, 300, we¹re still sorting that outbut we can get that under contract as soon as we can, and those would be [commercial off-the-shelf] vehicles, the four-star general said. ³It¹s going to come from a manufacturer that more than likely is already making these things, so we don¹t have to reinvent something, we don¹t have to go through the developmental testing and costs. So that¹s Increment 1.
Makes sense, get it sooner, let the Marines figure out what they need to do to change it. And then Increment 2 would be, in my mind, a spiral development. Tis would be like the second flight of the first increment. Amos said Increment 2 would be a jazzed up version of the original based on feedback from Marines in the field, and developmental costs would be kept low.
Asked if he could name the platform he is looking at or its manufacturers, Amos smiled and said absolutely not. But he did say it would be a wheeled vehicle rather than a tracked vehicle, which comes with a host of benefits that makes it immensely superior on landgreater safety, greater protection, simpler maintenance and better maneuverability, to name a few.
The current or legacy vehicle has been provided by BAE Systems.