Britain's Defence Giant BAE Systems bags contract to build ‘swimming’ vehicles for US Marines

[mike2000 is back]

BAE Systems bags contract to build ‘swimming’ vehicles for US Marines

BAE Systems selected to build US Marines' prototype amphibious vehicles in fight for potentially huge contract

The US Marines' ageing amphibious assault vehicles are in need of replacement Photo: US Marines


By Alan Tovey, Industry Editor

10:37AM GMT 25 Nov 2015

3 Comments


Defence giant BAE Systems has won a development contract with the US military that could lead to a huge deal to replace the Marine Corps' fleet of amphibious vehicles.

BAE's US-based Land and Armaments division and partner Iveco have signed a $103.7m (£69m) agreement to build 16 prototype armoured combat vehicles capable of "swimming" ashore.

The company's eight-wheeled vehicles, which can carry three crew and 13 heavily equipped troops, are capable of landing Marines from ships out at sea and then supporting them once on shore.

Along with BAE, US company Science Applications International Corp(SAIC) was also selected to produce 16 of its own amphibious vehicles.

BAE's prototype amphibious vehicle can carry 13 troops and three crew

Both companies' vehicles will be evaluated by the Marine Corps to decide which best fits their needs, with the winner expected to be announced in about three years' time and the first vehicles going into service in 2020.

The winner can expect an order for at least 200 new vehicles, worth more than £400m.

“We are proud to continue our long history of providing the Marine Corps with superior amphibious capabilities,” said Deepak Bazaz, director of new and amphibious vehicles at BAE.


BAE systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London in the United Kingdom and with operations worldwide. BAE Systems was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion merger of British Aerospace (BAe) and Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) and has since grown to be the the world's second-largest defence contractor based on applicable 2013 revenues. It bid to merge with EADS failed in 2012 amid political impasse.

“Our vehicle was designed to be fully amphibious with exceptional ground mobility and protection. Our amphibious combat vehicles will provide the Marine Corps with a mature, cost-effective solution with significant growth capacity.”

Work on the vehicles will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Quantico, Virginia; San Jose, California; and York, Pennsylvania.

The new vehicles will replace the Marine Corps' existing fleet of amphibious assault vehicles, which have been in service since the Vietnam era. These vehicles are becoming increasingly unreliable as they age and spare parts are in short supply.

Earlier programmes tried to develop a high-speed replacement for the vehicle were cancelled

An earlier programme to replace them with a high-speed vehicle that skimmed across the surface of the sea was abandoned four years ago because of spiralling costs and delays.

BAE and SAIC beat off competition from Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Advanced Defence Systems to win the development contracts.

BAE Systems bags contract to build ‘swimming’ vehicles for US Marines - Telegraph

 

[Taygibay]

There's no doubt BAe is doing good but while noteworthy that contract is just the downselect.
As we know, even having the best product may not ensure a successful final selection.

Still, judging by numbers, BAe's offering wins on all metrics but buoyancy and brute power,
and looks, I find their machine sleeker, it could well be a winner.

Good luck to beat the omni-present Lockheed, later mate, Tay.

 

[mike2000 is back]

Good luck to beat the omni-present Lockheed, later mate, Tay

True bro. Lockheed Martin will be the main hurdle for BAE systems to overcome. After all, only Lockheed Martin is ahead/bigger than BAE by revenues among defence contractors in the world. It will be a tough battle, but as you said, if the U.S is fair, it will go with/choose BAE , since its Amphibious vehicle has an edge over its U.S counterparts.

 

[Taygibay]

Actually, if you gougueule all the programs Lock-Mart is involved in with regards to performance,
one could argue that Uncle Sam could be voluntarily unfair to its own benefice by selecting BAe!!!

Just saying', but shush, Tay

 

[Nike]

Have you seen the other contender?

the unexpected underdog of SAIC-STK alliance who came with their Terrex based amphibious vehicle carve their own way onto the next stage. Those beast had the brutality and wide array of sensor system in its. And they are bringing the already serviced machine as Terrex had been inducted by SAF for several years

 

[Imtiaz_Sarwar]

This shows Britain has technology and talent. All you need is a lot of engineering work to make a successful prototype.

 

[mike2000 is back]

Have you seen the other contender?

the unexpected underdog of SAIC-STK alliance who came with their Terrex based amphibious vehicle carve their own way onto the next stage. Those beast had the brutality and wide array of sensor system in its. And they are bringing the already serviced machine as Terrex had been inducted by SAF for several years

Haven't heard of them, will check it out. Thanks for the info.

This shows Britain has technology and talent. All you need is a lot of engineering work to make a successful prototype.

Britain always had technology and talent bro. After all, we created modern capitalism itself, which shaped the modern world we now know today.

BAE systems is also has a large presence in Australia where she is helping bolster the power projection capabilities of our commonwealth friend/ally the Royal Australian Navy.

LANDING HELICOPTER DOCK

Solutions at Sea - LHD


BAE Systems Australia is the prime contractor for the Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) project. The project involves the design and production of two 27,800 tonne Amphibious Assault Ships and an Integrated Logistics Support package.

The LHD Ships will enable the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to exploit the synergy derived from combining sea, air and ground forces in the littoral manoeuvre space. The LHD will permit the ADF to apply unified effects at a time and place of political choice, entirely independent of shore infrastructure.

The Canberra Class LHD’s are bigger than Australia’s last aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. They are more than 230 metres long, 27.5 metres high and will weigh around 27,500 tonnes once completed.
BAE Systems will deliver two Canberra Class LHD ships between 2014 and 2015 under Joint Project 2048 Phase 4A/4B - the LHD component of the Amphibious Deployment and Sustainment capability.

As the Prime Contractor and leader in naval systems integration, amphibious platforms and capability, BAE Systems will manage the overall project in close cooperation with subcontractors Navantia, Saab and L-3 Communications.

BAE Systems Australia is responsible for: Integrated Logistic Support; Systems Engineering; Zone 8 Fabrication; Ship Consolidation; Systems Integration and Test, Trials and Commissioning. The following activities will be conducted at our Williamstown shipyard:

• Building the superstructure blocks (total 500t per ship);
• Consolidation of the superstructure Blocks to the Hull;
• Completion of the ship outfit;
• Sea Trials, acceptance tests and handover;
• Hull, Platform, Combat and Communications integration in the ships; and
• Combat and communications Integration in the Land Based Test Site.

Construction of the hull to the level of the flight deck, including the majority of the fit out is being undertaken at Navantia's Ferrol-Fene shipyard in north-west Spain. The hull will then be shipped to Williamstown for the installation of the island structure.


HMAS Canberra. The Australian government has accepted the first of its two Canberra-class landing helicopter docks (LHDs) from BAE Systems, the vessel's prime contractor

The island modules are being constructed at two BAE Systems locations in Australia before being consolidated at Williamstown.



FIVE KEY FACTS

• The LHD is a multibillion dollar shipbuilding project
• The project involves approximately 850,000 design hours and 5.5 million build hours
• The LHD’s are the largest ships ever built for the Royal Australian Navy
• The LHD is 230.8m in length. If stood on its stern, it would be 20m shy of the Rialto Towers in Melbourne.
• The LHD has crew and embarked force accommodation for 1403 people.

Landing Helicopter Dock case study | BAE Systems | Australia

Cutting edge technology brought to you by BAE systems.

I'm just sad our leaders/politicians haven't awarded BAE a contract to build a similar warship for our navy. We are helping other countries while we ourselves need one to replace the old amphibious LHD we have. Our politicians........

 

[Taygibay]

Terrex 2 :
Personnel capacity: 3 crew, plus 11 embarked Marines
Speed: 7 knots at sea
Power: 600-horsepower Caterpillar C9.3 engine
Reserve buoyancy: 23 percent

Super AV
Personnel capacity: 3 crew, plus 13 embarked Marines
Speed: greater than 65 mph on land; 6 knots in water
Optimized range: 10 nautical miles at sea, followed by 290 miles on land
Power: 690 horsepower engine
Reserve buoyancy: 21 percent

LockMart is out, my bad!
Thanks Mado milady and good day all, Tay.