Army asks BAE Systems for more AMPV armored combat vehicles with vetronics that meet open-systems standards

Questions and answers:

• What is the purpose of the U.S. Army’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program? It will replace the Army’s aging M113 vehicles with a modern, survivable, and mobile fleet capable of supporting armored brigade combat teams.
• What kinds of battlefield roles will the AMPV fill? It has five variants, serving as general-purpose vehicles, mission command vehicles, mortar carriers, medical evacuation vehicles, and medical treatment vehicles.
• What advanced electronics are integrated into the AMPV? It features VICTORY-compliant vetronics for networked communications, situational awareness, acoustic sniper localization, remote weapon stations, automated fire extinguishing, and future active protection.

WARREN, Mich. – Armored combat vehicles experts at BAE Systems will build networked armored combat vehicles that will take-on battlefield duties as armored ambulances, mortar carriers, engineer vehicles, and command vehicles.

Officials of the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Mich., announced a $139.6 million order last month to the BAE Systems Platforms & Services segment in York, Pa., for Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles (AMPV).

The Army's AMPV networked armored combat vehicle program consists of five vehicle variants: general purpose, mission command, mortar carrier, medical evaluation, and medical treatment vehicles. The contract is for early-order material in support of future AMPV purchase, and facility-capacity-expansion efforts to increase AMPV production.

The AMPV program calls for vetronics and software that adhere to the U.S. military's Vehicle Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) open-systems standards, which use an adopt-adapt-author approach independent of specific hardware or software.

AMPV electronic subsystems

The vehicle has several electronic subsystems that involve communications, situational awareness, and command and control. Its digital systems for mission command are prevalent in the mission command variant to support brigade and battalion command posts with integrated communications equipment.

The AMPV's situational awareness systems and acoustic sniper localization systems help provide 360-degree monitoring of the vehicle’s surroundings. Its remote weapon station electronics integrate weapon like machine guns and grenade launchers.

VICTORY-compliant vetronics enable networked communications, command, control, and electronic warfare (EW)capabilities, while survivability subsystems include an automated fire extinguishing system, and future options such as active protective systems.

The AMPV's electrical power system has twin 150-amp alternators to provide power to the engine and electronics, while command and control enhancements like map boards, installation kits for analog operations, and extended display cables project command displays inside the vehicle.

Tell me more about the Vehicle Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) standard ...

• VICTORY is an open architecture framework to integrate command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems with electronic warfare (EW) systems on military ground vehicles. It provides a common network-based architecture that enables new systems to plug into an existing vehicle backbone without major rewiring or redesign, and seeks to help reduce size, weight, and power (SWaP) demands by eliminating redundant equipment and infrastructure. VICTORY defines specifications for data buses, network services, and interfaces so that equipment from different vendors can work together easily on ground vehicles such as the AMPV, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Strykers, Abrams tanks, and JLTVs.

The AMPV, which is to replace the Army’s Vietnam-era M113 family of combat vehicles, and also will back-up the BAE Systems M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle on the battlefield.

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).

On this order BAE Systems will do the work in York, Pa., and should be finished by May 2028. For more information contact BAE Systems Platforms & Services online at https://www.baesystems.com/en-us/who-we-are/platforms-and-services, or the Army Contracting Command-Detroit Arsenal at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-dta/.