USS America (LHA-6) leaves Naval Base San Diego. USNI News Photo
NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Nudged by several orange-and-tan tugs, amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) pushed away from Pier 13 and spun into San Diego Bay to start its first operational deployment Friday to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions. Read More
BAE Systems’ ACV 1.1 solution has completed thousands of miles of mobility testing and a full range of amphibious operations, including demonstrations of launch and recovery. BAE Systems photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle is on track for testing this year and a down-select and contract award a year from now, the Program Executive Officer for Land Systems told lawmakers and reporters today. Read More
John Garner, Program Executive Officer for Land Systems. US Marine Corps photo.
The Marine Corps selected John Garner to serve as the new Program Executive Officer for Land Systems, a Senior Executive Service position that oversees the acquisition and sustainment of ground vehicles, radars and communications gear. Read More
Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment conduct an amphibious assault onto San Clemente Island during PHIBRON-MEU Integration, April 13, 2017. Gidget Fuentes Photo used with Permission
A previous version of this story had the incorrect hull number for USS America. The correct number is LHA-6 not LHA-8.
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Amphibious transport dock USS San Diego (LPD-22) slid into the thin, offshore fog bank as two waves of amphibious assault vehicles swam toward the sandy bluffs Thursday morning. Within minutes, several dozen combat-equipped Marines rushed from the ramps and made their way into a nearby village. Read More
U.S. Marine Corps pilots maneuver a CH-53K King Stallion as it delivers a 12,000 pound external load after completing a 110 nautical mile mission during the two-week initial operational test (OT-B1) conducted at Sikorsky. Sikorsky photo.
The Marine Corps’ top financial officer told lawmakers that the service considers its modernization programs properly balanced between aviation and ground needs, while acknowledging that there hasn’t been enough money in recent years to buy the ground assets at a proper pace. Read More
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Cartwright, an infantry Marine with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment, launches the Instant Eye MK-2 Gen 3 unmanned aerial system during an exercise for Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s Marine Air-Ground Task Force Integrated Experiment on Camp Pendleton, Calif., July 9, 2016. US Marine Corps photo.
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2016.
With the Navy releasing a “Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority” and the Marines releasing a Marine Corps Operational Concept in 2016 that both call for high-end technologies to succeed in a contested maritime environment, Marine Corps acquisition this year was focused on increasing lethality, situational awareness and maneuverability for the force. Read More
Amphibious Assault Vehicle Survivability Upgrade team lead Maj. Paul Rivera briefs media and program officials on the features of the first delivered vehicle near Marine Corps Base Quantico on March 15, 2016. USNI News photo.
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO — The Marine Corps plans to acquire half its needed amphibious lift – six of a required 12 infantry battalions – within the next five years, and it took a step in achieving that goal by recently accepting delivery of the first upgraded amphibious assault vehicle with a survivability upgrade (AAV SU). Read More
BAE Systems’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle 1.1 entrant. BAE Systems photo.
This post has been updated to remove references to an engineering contract related to work on a high water speed increment of the ACV. The Marine Corps inadvertently posted an old notice on FedBizOpps that discussed a contract option that was never exercised. The service will pursue high water speed research but did not begin work under that particular contract option.
The Marine Corps released its request for proposals for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle program, which will replace the Vietnam War-era Amphibious Assault Vehicles. Read More
Marines aboard an amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) exit the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) on Aug. 24, 2014. These vehicles, some of them 40 years old, are still in the fleet today until the new ACVs can be procured. US Navy Photo
The competitors for the Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) increment 1.1 are focusing on the eventual increment 1.2 capabilities – with increased swim capability and more seats – making it more likely that the two will merge together, top service officials have said this week. Read More
