Marine Corps Wants 'Affordable' Amphibious Vehicle

The Marine Corps yesterday kicked off the process to replace its $15 billion Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle project, which was canceled by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in January.

In a request to industry, the Marine Corps Systems Command said it wants to use a collaborative approach to develop a new Amphibious Combat Vehicle (note that the Corps has sent the EFV moniker to the dustbin) that will result in "more affordable amphibious capability."

The EFV -- a combination of tank and boat -- was designed to operate in the water at speeds of 30 to 35 miles per hour, a requirement which helped drive up the price to $22 million per vehicle.

To cut costs for the new Amphibious Combat Vehicle the Marines rather elliptically conceded such high water speeds might not meet affordability goals. "While the ideal capability would be for the vehicle to transit from well over the horizon at a high rate of speed, this may prove to be unaffordable," the solicitation said.

But the Corps said it still needs a new amphib speedy enough "to enable the element of surprise" in transit to a beachhead from ships anchored 12 miles offshore.

This is about the only cost-saving concession in the request to industry. Otherwise it looks like the Marines want to load up the new amphib with capabilities that doomed the EFV.

This includes enough armor to withstand an IED blast and communications gear with connections to the Global Information Grid to support the "real time situational awareness" thing.

The new Amphibious Combat Vehicle, I fear, is a boat (and tank) that will not float.