Vendors pour funding into armored vehicle development.

• Author: Parsons, Dan
• Position: Armored Vehicles

* Vehicle manufacturers are gearing up for several parallel armored vehicle programs and, without any guarantee of a contract, are pouring money into working prototypes so that when the time comes, they can offer an "off-the-shelf" design.

Competitors for the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle are putting up handsome amounts of internal research-and-development cash. The program is following an industry trend in which companies are rushing to build operational prototypes ahead of formal competitions, hoping the Defense Department will be motivated to take advantage of industry investments. Defense firms have taken this tack in competitions ranging from helicopters to small, mobile special operations vehicles.

In early December, Army buyers still weren't sure what they are looking for in a replacement for M113 armored personnel carriers or when they plan to start production.

"The acquisition strategy has not been solidified," said Ashley Givens, a spokeswoman for the Army's Ground Combat Systems program executive office. "We are still getting input from the [Pentagon]."

Industry officials expect the Army to seek out a non-developmental design as a cost-saving measure.

Army documents, including an analysis of alternatives that was completed this summer, as well as the request for information for non-developmental vehicles, shed light on what the service is looking for.

Plans are to buy at least 3,000 AMPVs in five variants: General purpose, mission command, mortar carrier, medical evacuation and medical treatment. They will replace the 3,000 M113s currently serving with combat units. An analysis of alternatives was completed this summer and the Army plans to release a request for proposals no later than the third quarter of 2013.

At a target price of between $1 million to $1.7 million per vehicle, not counting government-furnished materials, the program represents a potential $5 billion deal. The program was budgeted for $74 million in the current fiscal year.

If the Army chooses to purchase an existing vehicle like the Stryker or a modified Bradley Fighting Vehicle, full rate production could begin as early as fiscal year 2015, or as late as 2017, according to Army documents.

The makers of those vehicles--General Dynamics Land Systems and BAE Systems, respectively--are planning to compete for a chance at the AMPV contract to replace M113 troop carriers, which entered service during the early years of the Vietnam War.

The Bradley Fighting Vehicle...