The United States Marine Corps held some new tests with its newly designed combat vehicles at Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.
According to a recent service news release, U.S. Marines with Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch, Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity conducted low-light surf transit testing of new Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) at AVTB Beach.
The test was designed to assess and verify how well Marines can interface with the vehicle and operate at night.
The ACV is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier designed to fully replace the Corps’ aging fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicles. The new vehicle is a modernized platform providing increased lethality, survivability and protected mobility to Marines. It is designed to fully replace the Corps’ aging fleet of Assault Amphibious Vehicles over the next decade.
The Marine Corps started accepting delivery of the ACV earlier this summer. The AAA program office is currently conducting live fire testing and performing logistics demonstration procedures on the vehicles in preparation for integration, operational tests and evaluation scheduled for next summer.
In June 2018, Marine Corps Systems Command awarded BAE Systems a contract to begin low rate initial production of the amphibious vehicles. Since then, the Advanced Amphibious Assault program office at Program Executive Officer Land Systems has continued conducting a variety of robust swimming and other tests on the platform.
The Marine Corps started accepting delivery of the ACV earlier this summer. The Advanced Amphibious Assault program office is currently conducting live fire testing and performing logistics demonstration procedures on the vehicles in preparation for integration, operational tests and evaluation scheduled for next summer.
The ACV is intended to serve Marines for at least the next 20-plus years.