The eight-month test period puts the potential purchase of imported vehicles beyond the Presidential election.
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received a $3.5 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to test and validate a variant of a Finnish designed amphibious armored vehicle or AAV. The Lockheed bid is based on the Patria 8×8, and there have been more than than 1,200 of the AAVs delivered or on order by six countries. The Lockheed version, dubbed Havoc, can carry 12 people or be equipped as a mobile medical unit or repair and recovery vehicle.
It was not immediately clear if Lockheed really intends to import the Finnish-built personnel carrier for the 600 units the Marine Corps eventually plans to buy at ~$5 million each while long-term U.S. unemployment continues at post Great Depression highs. There are competing U.S.- and Canadian-built carriers available from General Dynamics, BAE Systems, and Science Applications International Corporation.
During an eight-month evaluation period, the Marine Corps will verify human factors and amphibious capabilities at the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Camp Pendleton, California. Related protection evaluations will occur at the Nevada Automotive Test Center in Carson City, Nevada.
BAE Systems has an American built AAV, and has been awarded what seems a paltry $250,000 by the Marine Corps, but that’s for a land based version of the AAV. This AAV trade study will determine how to improve the survivability and protection of the vehicle while maintaining its current land and water performance. Through this contract, BAE Systems will determine if an affordable development and production costs can meet the schedule of 43 upgraded vehicles by September 2017. Science Applications International Corporation has also been awarded $250,000 for similar work.
BAE Systems has also been awarded a $3.5 million contract to support the USMC’s evaluation of a MPC (Marine Personnel Carrier) through system demonstrations and studies for water performance, human factors, stowage capacity evaluation, survivability testing and the potential for future production in the U.S. The MPC is an amphibious 8×8 wheeled personnel carrier, designed to provide protected mobility and general support to a Marine infantry battalion.
