Amphibious combat vehicle stalled amidst budget, requirements uncertainty.

• Author: Parsons, Dan

A premier Marine Corps' acquisition program, and one of its most historically troubled, is on indefinite hold as officials continue to parse what exactly is needed in a new amphibious combat vehicle.

A formal solicitation to industry was scheduled for release in fall 2012, but has been pushed forward into the current calendar year. The program is essentially a resurrection of the defunct Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Marine officials are anxious not to repeat the mistakes of the past, which is Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James F. Amos' rationale for moving cautiously.

"From my perspective, we've got one opportunity to do this right," Amos said in an interview last year. "We need an amphibious tractor, period. So I want to make sure that when we get to Congress," the ACV program will be fully funded.

"We are going back through yet one more time to make sure we have the requirements absolutely locked in concrete," Amos said.

At that time Amos said the service was "right where we need to be" with its effort to replace its aging fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicles. He promised a request for proposals would be released by the end of November. A defense acquisition board was scheduled to consider the RFP then, but the meeting never occurred and has not been rescheduled, said Manny Pacheco, a spokesman for the service's Advanced Amphibious Assault program office.

"There is no date certain to my knowledge until we get further guidance," Pacheco told National Defense. "We are kind of in await-and-see scenario."

The AAV has been in use since 1971 and is considered by Marines to be increasingly difficult to operate and maintain. Even with considerable upgrades over the years, the vehicle has "significant operational deficiencies in mobility, firepower and survivability," according to a report published in December by Andrew Feickert, a specialist in military ground forces with the Congressional Research Service.

Its "two-mile ship-to-shore range is viewed by many as a significant issue not only for the vehicle itself by also for naval amphibious forces," the report said.

The AAV is not up to the challenge of modern weapons given the proliferation of guided cruise missiles and other "anti-access, area-denial" weapons. The vehicle's limited ship-to-shore range and relatively slow speed afloat places not only Marines, but the assault ships from which they launch, at risk.

Feickert noted that U.S. military officials fear rogue nations and non-state...