To retire the aging M113 armored troop carriers, the Army and BAE Systems are working to accelerate the new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle production.
Efforts to increase production come as the United States continues to supply weapons to Ukraine.
The Pentagon has sent several of the current M113s to Ukraine. As of October, the department had pledged 200 vehicles to Ukraine since Russia invaded. The M113s came from the Army National Guard, Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, program executive officer for ground combat systems, said.
Congress has already provided some funding to replace the M113s with AMPVs, according to Dean. The service is working with BAE to increase its rate of production, originally reported by Army Times sister publication Defense News
Moves to quicken production may surprise some, considering the service originally sought to slow rate of AMPV acquisitions over its five-year plan between fiscal years 2023 and 2027. The new pace would extend procurement for AMPV out to 2035, as the Army went from a purchase rate of 190 AMPVs a year to 131 a year.
Due to lingering challenges in the supply chain and economic inflation, BAE had to restructure its first full-rate production proposal as a two-year deal with another two-year deal down the road. By doing this, it eases the concerns of some suppliers from getting locked into products at a certain price despite the possibility of changing costs.
The AMPV completed its initial operational test and evaluation earlier this year. Dean said the service expects to start fielding to the first brigade at the beginning of 2023.
Zamone “Z” Perez is a reporter at Military Times. He previously worked at Foreign Policy and Ufahamu Africa. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he researched international ethics and atrocity prevention in his thesis. He can be found on Twitter @zamoneperez.
