Amos Says Marines To Drop High Speed ACV, For Now; Phased Approach Likely

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http://breakingdefense.com/2014/01/amos-says-marines-to-drop-high-speed-acv-phased-approach-likely/



The Marines’ current Amphibious Assault Vehicles, shown here, are 40 years old.

Amos Says Marines To Drop High Speed ACV, For Now; Phased Approach Likely
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
on January 29, 2014 at 3:05 PM

CRYSTAL CITY, Va: For years the Marines have argued they need a new amphibious combat vehicle that can cut through water at high speeds so Marines can get to the beach safely and then fight their way inland. But Marine Commandant James Amos signaled yesterday there just isn’t enough money to buy a “planing” vehicle capable of skimming over the water like a speedboat. Instead, for now, the Marines will buy something much more modest.

“I envision the ACV as kind of a phased approach,” Gen. Amos said when I asked about the program’s status in a Q&A at the RAND Corp. “Phase one being, ‘okay what can we get now that makes sense, that’s affordable in this budget,” he explained, “and then (see) what is it that science and technology can give us in the future for perhaps a phase two, which might be a high-water-speed vehicle.”

Note that “perhaps” and “might be.” Amos’s second phase sounds more like an aspiration than a plan.

“My sense is the S&T (science and technology), the R&D (research and development) is not quite there yet” for high speed movement through the water, Amos said, “but I still have the need for an amphibious vehicle” now.