Army Issues RFP For $6 Billion M113 Replacement: Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle Program

[unhappycamper]

http://defense.aol.com/2013/03/22/army-issues-rfp-for-6-billion-m113-replacement-armored-multi-p/



he Army wants to replace its Vietnam-vintage M113s (pictured) with a new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, the AMPV.

Army Issues RFP For $6 Billion M113 Replacement: Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle Program
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: March 22, 2013

~snip~

The bottom line: almost $1.5 billion for over 300 vehicles -- for a start. The RFP proposes a $1.46 billion contract in two phases: design, develop, and build 29 prototypes over four years -- the $388 million engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase, 2014 through 2017; and then build up to 289 production models over three years -- the $1.08 billion low-rate initial production (LRIP) phase, 2018-2020.

Beyond 2020, the Army plans to buy another 2,618 AMPVs over 10 years, for a total of 2,907, at an average manufacturing cost not to exceed $1.8 million per vehicle. (Weapons and electronics will add more, depending on the variant). That's about another $4.7 billion.

Of course, these are all pre-sequestration figures. President Obama has still not released his 2014 budget request. With Congress having just passed the 2013 spending bills yesterday -- halfway through the fiscal year -- and the automatic cuts of the sequester still set to happen, it's up in the air whether any big programs will survive intact, or at all.

Already the Army has had to slow down development of the AMPV's big brother, the Ground Combat Vehicle, and give up on competitive prototyping. So for AMPV, as with the revised GCV program, the Army will award just one development contract to one company. This saves money in the short run while raising the long-term risk that you won't like what you've bought but won't have an alternative.