BAE Systems to upgrade AMPV combat vehicle vetronics for enhanced battlefield networking
WARREN, Mich. – Armored combat vehicle experts at BAE Systems will upgrade the vetronics architecture of the new U.S. Army Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) with battlefield networking capability under terms of a $15.2 million order announced Monday.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command's Tank and Automotive segment in Warren, Mich., are asking the BAE Systems Platforms & Services segment in Sterling Heights, Mich., to modify the AMPV design to accommodate evolving Army network hardware and software.
The AMPV is a replacement for the U.S. Army’s Vietnam-era M113 family of combat vehicles, and will function on the battlefield as an armored ambulance, mortar carrier, engineer vehicle, and command vehicle, as well as a backup to the BAE Systems M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
New networking capability will enable the AMPV to be part of secure wireless networks to coordinate communications and tactics among other combat vehicles and command echelons, as well as provide networking among the vehicle's on-board systems.
The Army's AMPV program consists of five vehicle variants: general purpose, mission command, mortar carrier, medical evaluation, and medical treatment vehicles.
Related: Networking vehicles on the future battlefield
The AMPV program calls for vetronics and software that adhere to the U.S. military's Vehicle Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) standards, which use an adopt-adapt-author approach independent of specific hardware or software.
The program aims to provide the Army with a survivable and mobile fleet of vehicles to replace the M113. The AMPV capitalizes on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and M109A7 advanced Paladin self-propelled artillery designs to enable the AMPV to maneuver with other modern combat vehicles in the Army's armored brigade combat team (ABCT).
Monday's order is a modification to a potential $1.2 billion contract awarded to BAE Systems in late 2014 to develop and build the AMPV. BAE Systems engineers are designing the new vehicle to accommodate periodic technology upgrades.
The original 52-month contract calls for BAE Systems to build 29 AMPVs across each of the variants. The award also provides an option to begin the low-rate initial production (LRIP) phase immediately following the current full-scale development phase. The LRIP contract option would call for BAE Systems to build an additional 289 vehicles.
On this AMPV networking contract, BAE Systems will do the work in Sterling Heights, Mich., and should be finished by November 2019. For more information contact BAE Systems Platforms & Services online at www.baesystems.com, or the Army Contracting Command's Tank and Automotive segment at www.tacom.army.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
