The Army has approved the new BAE Systems-built Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) for full-rate production (FRP), with the company receiving a $119.7 million contract modification covering long lead items ahead of the next production award.
Ashley John, a spokeswoman for the Army’s Program Executive Office-Ground Combat Systems, confirmed the update to Defense Daily and said the first FRP production contract for AMPV is expected at the end of August.
BAE Systems’ AMPV is the Army’s replacement for its legacy M113 armored personnel carriers, with the service reaching the “first unit equipped” marker for the new platform in March (Defense Daily, March 14).
Earlier in March, the Army awarded BAE Systems a $245.6 million deal for the purchase of “early order materials” to support the upcoming first full-rate production deal, which a lead program official said would ensure the production line can keep humming while contract negotiations were ongoing (Defense Daily, March 2).
AMPV deliveries under the pending FRP contract award are expected to begin in January 2025 and be completed in March 2026, according to John.
The Army has said it’s working toward a goal of annually delivering “a brigade and a half” worth of AMPVs within two years, which would include BAE Systems increasing production from 12 to around 16 vehicles per month.
Jim Miller, BAE Systems’ vice president of business development for combat mission systems, previously detailed efforts to expand production capacity for AMPV at its York, Pennsylvania production facility, to include investing $250 million into the plant and moving around other manufacturing activities (Defense Daily, March 31).
“The Army would like us to be able to produce over 190 AMPVs a year and we’re going to go to that very quickly at York with this move,” Miller told reporters in late March.