Marine Corps Gets 1st Command Variant of New Amphibious Combat Vehicle

BAE Systems has delivered the first command variant of the Marine Corps' amphibious combat vehicle, which is designed to help leaders to track and maneuver units engaged in battle.

The amphibious combat vehicle-command, or ACV-C, is one of two variants BAE is delivering to the Marines under a 2020 full-rate production contract worth nearly $185 million. Like the ACV personnel carrier, or ACV-P, the command variant is an eight-wheeled armored vehicle equipped with a 700-horsepower engine.

But the command variant will also be equipped with the "highest levels of communications" equipment to help commanders understand the battlefield and maneuver their forces, according to a release BAE put out Thursday.

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"This ACV's base design for payload makes it a uniquely adaptable platform for the integration of numerous mission capability sets," John Swift, director of amphibious programs at BAE Systems, said in the release. "The delivery of the first ACV-C for testing is significant as it provides Marines with advanced operational control for defeating adversaries."

The Marine Corps selected BAE Systems in 2018 to build the ACV as a replacement for its outdated amphibious assault vehicle, or AAV, which is also built by BAE.

An AAV was involved in a fatal accident off the coast of California last summer that killed eight Marines and a sailor after the vehicle sank on its way back to a ship.

The ACV-C features multiple workstations where Marine leaders can access independent communications networks while moving across the battlefield, the release states.

"Marines will be able to quickly receive and analyze data, coordinate battlefield functions, and transmit information to provide terminal mission control rapidly from the mobile protected ACV-C," Swift said in the release.

The ACV platform was designed to adapt to different mission needs such as a 30mm cannon variant, which is currently under contract for design and development, according to the release. A recovery variant is also in the planning stage.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Related: Marines' New Amphibious Combat Vehicles Set to Begin Full-Rate Production