USMC Developing New Amphibious Combat Vehicle

The USMC ^ | 6 April 2004 | Central_Floridian

[Central_Floridian]

Concept of Employment

The AAAV is the next generation of amphibious assault craft representing one third of the OMFTS triad. The AAAV will allow naval expeditionary forces to eliminate the mobility gap and, for the first time in naval warfare history, maneuver ashore in a single, seamless stroke giving both ships and landing forces sufficient sea space for maneuver, surprise and protection. The AAAVs unique combination of firepower, armor and NBC protection, and high speed mobility on land and sea represent major breakthroughs in the ability of naval expeditionary forces to avoid an enemy’s strengths and exploit their weaknesses. The AAAV Concept of Employment highlights the contributions this assault craft will provide future MAGTF commanders in the operational environment described in our capstone operational concept Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare.

The EFV provides a revolutionary tactical mobility capability, allowing the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) to dominate the littoral battle space. Designed to work in concert with the LCAC and the MV-22 Osprey, the EFV provides the capability to launch from over the horizon, move rapidly across the littorals, land at multiple sights, and safely deliver a reinforced Marine rifle squad consisting of 17 combat equipped Marines. The crew of 3 includes a Gunner, Driver, and Vehicle Commander.
The EFV will be armed with the M240 machine gun (7.62mm)and the Mk 44 grenade launcher (40mm).
The EFV will have a FLIR sytem and an advanced, stabilized fire control system
The EFV can go 45 mph over rough terrain and 30 mph on the water.

[CasearianDaoist]

They have been working on this for quite awhile. It is a great platform though.

[Central_Floridian]

Note- The EFV was called the AAAV (Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle) during an earlier period of development.
From the Marine Corp Times
Issue Date: March 22, 2004 Killer ride Corps’ new amtrac — the EFV — is built for a fight By Christian Lowe Times staff writer CAMP BLANDING, Fla. — “Viper 1, this is Viper 5. OK … what’s your position?” Gunnery Sgt. Robert Germano called into his radio, the frustration in the platoon commander’s voice oozing through the Marines’ headsets. “I seeeee yoooou,” teased Sgt. Shon McGuigan, the wily commander of Viper 1. Seconds later, a cloud of smoke rose above a small shoulder of sand and brush, unmasking Viper 1 and doling out an uneasy reminder that a platoon of amtracs couldn’t locate its prey despite lumbering past the “enemy” position twice. “Man, if we’d had a thermal sight, we would have caught those guys in a second,” said Cpl. Jason Duehring, mechanics section leader, to his fellow crewmates. Cold comfort for the Marines of 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, who were searching for two Amphibious Assault Vehicles posing as Iraqi troop carriers under the blazing Florida sun at this Army National Guard base near Jacksonville. Germano gathered his Marines at Viper 1’s vehicle for a lecture. They were in the wrong position during the maneuver. They talked too much on the radio. The list went on. “He’s embarrassed,” one Marine whispered as Germano counseled his men. It was tough to question the expertise of Germano or the combat-tested crews that peppered his unit on this March 5 drill weekend. As Duehring said, given a better combat system, an enemy vehicle such as Viper 1 would have been found — and killed – much more easily. And that’s just what the Corps is trying to give the Marines of Bravo Company and their active-duty counterparts in the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. With a powerful 30mm Bushmaster Mk-44 tank-busting cannon, an advanced firing system that promises 90 percent first-shot accuracy and combat optics such as second-generation forward-looking infrared and laser range finders, the General Dynamics Land Systems-built EFV is shaping up to be far more of a true combat vehicle than today’s AAV. “This is an amtrac built by amtrackers for the Marine Corps” rather than the other way around, said Staff Sgt. Sam Shaw, a Marine tester with the General Dynamics developmental test team. The new amtrac has endured its share of technological, budget and scheduling problems. Those hurdles haven’t put the EFV in any danger of being canceled, but sticker shock from the per-vehicle price tag of $8.5 million and expected changes in future amphibious warfare strategy could change the Corps’ purchasing plans significantly, experts say. The Corps plans to buy more than 1,000 of the vehicles through 2020, with the first ones expected to reach the fleet in 2008. But regardless of how many the Corps buys, grunts will be riding to war in a tougher, deadlier – and more comfortable – vehicle. More armor, less room Compared with the current top-of-the-line amtrac — the AAVP7A1 upgraded to the “Reliability, Availability, Maintainability – Rebuilt to Standard,” or RAM-RS, configuration — the EFV’s performance is impressive. The new vehicle’s turbo-diesel engine generates 850 horsepower compared with the current amtrac’s 525. This power, combined with an advanced suspension system, makes a 45-mph dash across muddy, rutted roads look like a mellow Sunday drive. But it’s in the water where the EFV stands apart. An extra turbocharger kicks in for ship-to-shore operations, pumping out a whopping 2,500 horsepower for a top speed of 30 mph — fast enough that an enterprising leatherneck could water-ski behind it. The AAV, on the other hand, plods along at just 8 mph. With a huge forward bow plane and two smaller flaps below water jets in the rear, the new amtrac can ride its own wake, going a long way toward keeping an infantryman’s lunch in his stomach rather than on the amtrac’s floor. “It’s like riding on air,” Shaw said. However, the new crew cabin is definitely more cramped than that of the current amtrac. Whereas the AAV can carry 21 combat-loaded Marines, testers say the EFV will be able to carry only 17, a reinforced squad. “You have to make some compromises for the capabilities it has,” Shaw said during testing Feb. 11 at Fort A.P. Hill, Va. The cabin is cramped largely because the EFV’s engine sits in the center of the vehicle, rather than in the front. Engineers say the new location helps the vehicle’s balance, making it more stable at high speeds in the water, but it also means some passengers must sit around the sides of the engine. This might mean a slower exit for grunts who need to hustle out of the vehicle to engage hostile forces at a moment’s notice. However, program officials and testers say recent tests show that 17 Marines can squeeze out in around 13 seconds. The crew compartment is shrouded in protection. The floor and seats are lined with bullet-proof Kevlar, and the material used in the bulkheads is layered in such a way that anything that penetrates the outer armor will be absorbed by additional composite materials, Shaw said. The armor is tough enough to fend off .50-caliber rounds fired from 300 meters, testers say. And be glad there’s a lot of electronic equipment aboard that must be kept cool. The boiling-hot, sour-smelling cave most grunts have learned to expect when riding inside an AAV will be a thing of the past. Huge air-conditioning vents will keep the crew compartment at a bearable 80 degrees even under the most brutally hot conditions, program officials say. An amtracker’s dream Maintainers are meant to benefit from enhancements on the EFV that allow them to shortcut many of the tasks they now must perform just to get the current AAVs running. They’ll also be able to perform many repairs in the field that now are too complicated to accomplish in austere environments. “They called in bunch of retired amtrackers to give ideas on how to make things easier,” Shaw said. Quick-release valves allow maintainers to remove engine components and other parts without draining out all the hydraulic fluid, while a built-in diagnostic system similar to that of the 7-ton Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement truck will help pinpoint problems early. Checking the oil levels during every “at a halt” break will mean looking at a computer screen — no more climbing into a hot engine compartment. But there’s elegance in the simplicity of the AAV’s Cummins diesel engine. Although the transmission often gives mechanics a headache, the engine is simple and straightforward, with few bells and whistles to complicate repairs, amtrackers say. Program officials admit the EFV’s complex technology could keep it in the maintenance shack more than they’d originally planned. Program officials thought they’d have an “availability rate” of 70 hours between “critical failure,” but they’ve lowered their estimate to 45 hours, about the same as the current AAV. “This is a hell of a lot more capable and a hell of a lot more complicated. I mean, there is no comparison in combat capability, and there’s just so much more functionality,” explained Lt. Col. Clayton Nans, the EFV program manager in Woodbridge, Va. “Hell, if I could deliver that and meet the same basic reliability of our fielded vehicle, then I’d be damned pleased to get that as a Marine.”

[Central_Floridian]

Dang! I forget to format that

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[Central_Floridian]

The rest of the article from the Marine Corp Times
What truly sets the EFV apart from its predecessor is its weapon system, where the new amtrac puts the AAV to shame.
With its 30mm cannon, the EFV will be capable of killing tanks with the same deadly efficiency as the Air Force’s A-10 “Warthog” attack jet, with its fearsome soda bottle-size depleted uranium projectiles. An accompanying fire-control and sighting system is intended to nearly guarantee the shooter a first-shot kill. Add in the built-in stabilizer and forward-looking infrared sights and you’ve got a combat vehicle to be reckoned with on any battlefield, Marines and testers say.
“After a 10-minute class, you’ll be knocking the bottom out of a flea’s a-- with this gun,” Shaw said.
Troop commanders and drivers will have a lot more to work with as well. Multifunction displays at each of the three crew stations will show navigation and communications data to allow crews to keep track of who’s where on the battlefield.
The EFV will have access to data from E-3 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft so crews can call in air support. They also will be able to get information on ground targets from E-8C Joint Surveillance Target and Attack Radar system aircraft, giving the troop and vehicle commanders a wide view of enemy threats.
All these systems combine to make the EFV seem more like a combat vehicle first and a transport second. This is quite a change from the current AAV, clearly a troop transport that’s been pressed into service as a combat vehicle.
“This thing will be able to do true maneuver warfare — high-speed maneuver warfare — when it hits the fleet,” Shaw said.
Reliability frustrations
Too good to be true? Maybe. Testers admit they’ve got a lot of technological kinks to work out before Marines get to put the vehicle through its paces in 2009 for operational testing. Last-minute updates to the road wheels that carry the treads, gun system and other parts are keeping engineers working right up to their deadline.
During the February testing session at Fort A.P. Hill, the EFV stalled out several times due to overheating and other pesky problems. That’s a lot better than the track record of past prototypes, which usually broke down after only an hour of driving. But it’s still frustrating for the testers, engineers and program managers who are in the hot seat.
“The [EFV] is not going to go out there unless it demonstrates that it’s durable and reliable enough,” Nans said. “But I gotta tell you, the AAV is getting old … and it’s not going to last forever. And the AAV has documented deficiencies in survivability, lethality and communications.”
The Corps plans to purchase more than 1,000 of the vehicles which will begin rolling off the production lines in 2007 — in a nearly one-for-one replacement of the entire Marine Corps fleet of personnel-transport and command-variant AAVs.
“Is it too complicated? Is it going to be able to hold up?” Nans added. “That’s why we’re testing it. And if it doesn’t work, then the Marine Corps is not going to buy it.”
Amtrackers in the fleet are fiercely loyal to their vehicles, especially those who drove them to Baghdad and beyond during the war in Iraq. And although most don’t know much about the EFV at all, the crewmen who have caught a glimpse of the new vehicle in action and the small cadre of Marines who’ve been involved with testing the vehicle say it’s going to change the way they do business for a long time.
“This thing got me through some serious stuff in Iraq,” said Germano, the Bravo Company platoon commander, reflecting the sentiments of his fellow AAV crewmen. “But when that [EFV} comes along, man, it’s going to be awesome.”

[Hodar]

For a fairly informative counter-point to the AAAV, consider this link.

For example, having armor made of Aluminum seems like a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. Also, some of the requirements seem a bit expensive, as well as unduly harsh for a tank. For example, this tank has a requirement to travel 20 knots in the water, this means that the engine must be 2x as large as one would expect, the treads must be capable of being pulled into the hull and covered (reduce drag). I forsee severe problems with reliability; and one thing a tank should excell at, is being reliable.

[RightWhale]

When it comes to beachhead landings, nothing compares with the US Marines. Nothing is close enough to even be in second place. Not even China.

[katana]

Picture:

Looks something like an M113 with battleship plate side armor It would be amazing if it really can do 45 mph on the ground.

[Fierce Allegiance]

[Central_Floridian]

[Fierce Allegiance]

[Fierce Allegiance]

[Gorjus]

...having armor made of Aluminum seems like a recipe for disaster, if you ask me.

Well, posting the article seems like an invitation to me, so I think you can consider yourself asked. (*smile*)

But you can also consider yourself disagreed with. Aluminum can make very efficient armor, and it's used on the Bradley with good effect. The whole 'aluminum burns' excitement is just wrong. A fine powder of aluminum does indeed burn, but plates of aluminum don't. Aluminum does melt at lower temperatures than steel, but you can get a lot better ballistic protection at the same weight with aluminum, so that's the tradeoff.

What would I want? I'd want a cosmic, super-tank with 10,000 horsepower, a 16-in gun and six feet of unobtanium armor. Then I'd want 100,000 others to either side of me to draw fire and cover my . . . self.

But when practical tradeoffs have to be made, I think the track record of the Marines is pretty good. If this is what they think they need, then Semper Fi!

[Hodar]

The whole 'aluminum burns' excitement is just wrong. A fine powder of aluminum does indeed burn, but plates of aluminum don't.

If this statement were true; I would agree with you. But from personal experience, I have seen Vega engines catch fire (the Chevy Vega used Aluminum blocks). If the engine gets hot enough, the Aluminum will indeed ignite. I don't know why it doesn't ignite when it melts; I'm not a chemist. But I do know that both Aluminum powder, and Aluminum (engine) blocks will catch fire. In layman's terms, this is called 'bad'.

[Quix]

PARAGRAPHS ARE FRIENDS.

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CLICK PREVIEW and check formatting before clicking Post.

Eyes need some white space for minibreaks.

Some people can easily get headaches trying to read without such.

[Steelerfan]

Thought this might be of interest to your group.

[Central_Floridian]

Interesting article. I don't know how much of a disadvantage the wake of an EFV would be, since an amphibious attack should be covered by intense artillery/ air support and smoke.

The idea of OMFTS sounds very bad to me. It seems very likely to turn into a bloodbath in the face of even moderate opposition. I cannot think of any successful amphibious assault were amphtracs were the only vehicles/ watercraft to come within 25 miles of hostile shore.

The added water speed seems like it would be a big advantage however, even if the vehicle used alot of fuel while waterborne. I understand that in the amphibious attacks of WWII alot of amphtracs were taken out by defensive guns while they were in the water: and they had destroyers firing at point-blank range to cover them.
I just hope the Marines get a good amphibious vehicle.

[Gorjus]

Beware of anecdotal evidence. Painted aluminum engine blocks burn. At least, the paint does. And it's true that aluminum will absorb a little flammable fluid, like oil, into it's surface. So does steel.

I'm not saying aluminum is the perfect structural metal. But the 'aluminum burns' rap is not a valid issue.

Here's an example of a real issue, and it gives rise to a lot of the bad image of aluminum. It's very conductive of heat. A fire will spread past an aluminum bulkhead (like on a ship) so fast that people think the aluminum is burning. In fact, it's just paint on both sides of the bulkhead. That same perception can apply to engine blocks, where the heat from one burning area quickly ignites any other flammables that are close.

So for basic structure in applications that are not dominated by weight (like aircraft), I'd use steel. But for armor, thickness is a multiplier (twice as thick can be eight times as resistive to impact) and you can get three times as thick for the same weight with aluminum (which can offset the lesser basic structural strength). For applications not dominated by weight but for which weight is nonetheless an important factor, aluminum can be a good choice.

[cinFLA]

As match racing became more fierce, Jenkins would sometimes drop in one of his 500+cubic-inch “Carolina Mountain Motor” all-aluminum big-blocks into his Vega and astound everyone. Although not legal for NHRA Pro Stock competition, the match race setup sure kept Grumpy in the drag-mags.